Applied Arts
Applied arts have been central to a Derby education for over 200 years.
Our students practice traditional skills such as sewing and shop, and have a wide array of additional elective offerings like stagecraft, crochet, ceramics, and fab lab to explore. Whether in the shop or the tech booth in Larson Hall, our students combine their creativity and ingenuity to create and learn.
Learning Sewing Techniques
Sewing instruction was written into the school's charter as a requirement and began with the first class of students back in 1791. Students worked on traditional “samplers” back then.
Adhering to our charter and carrying on a special tradition, today’s students design and create an array of projects using hands-on, mathematical, and spatial thinking skills. In addition to traditional sewing, students have the opportunity to learn other fiber arts such as crochet, hand embroidery, and textile collaging.
The Art of Woodworking
In the early years of woodshop, students learn safety and etiquette while working on custom projects. There’s a focus on understanding the materials they are using, as well as an emphasis on developing hand-eye coordination. We want each student to experience the inherent feeling of pride and accomplishment that comes from making something by hand.
STEM
Our STEM programming incorporates elements of the design process “baked in” to activities and projects. The creativity and imagination needed to test out elegant solutions overlap with the principles of visual and applied arts.
