Programs

The Choir Program at BMHS offers comprehensive music education in various styles of vocal singing. Students receive training in vocal production techniques, music theory, music history, and sight reading.

The BMHS choir students balance demanding performance and rehearsal schedules, all while maintaining a high level of academic excellence.

9725 Concert Choir
Concert Choir is designed to teach the rudiments of choral singing and present various musical styles as part of the song repertoire. Principles of music theory as well as sight singing will be included in the general curriculum.
9726 Honors Concert Choir
Students can elect to be in the Honors class at the beginning of the school year. The Honors Class incorporates extra projects into the curriculum.
9747 Chorale
Chorale is an intermediate choir, designed to build on the fundamentals of music theory and vocal technique. One focus of the course is to strengthen sight singing through exercises and various repertoire. 
9748 Honors Chorale
Students can elect to be in the Honors class at the beginning of the school year. The Honors Class incorporates extra projects into the curriculum.
9746 Chamber Choir
Chamber Choir is offered to those students exhibiting a high level of vocal expertise and precision. Students will be exposed to a wide variety of historical and 20th-century musical styles. Students will have an opportunity to study music theory and harmony. 
9745 Honors Chamber Choir
Students can elect to be in the Honors class at the beginning of the school year. The Honors Class incorporates extra projects into the curriculum.
9760 Show Choir
The Show Choir course is designed to offer choir students an opportunity to perform varied song repertoire with choreography. The focus of this course will be on lyrical analysis, expressive singing, stage presence, and choreography. Students will have the opportunity to choreograph and teach the dances chosen. The class will work towards presenting a choreographed show that contains a number of choral selections. 
9755 Vocal Jazz Ensemble
Students will have the opportunity to work on jazz repertoire from past to present. An emphasis will be placed on jazz lyrics and phrasing. This course is open to any student who wishes to sing and has some choir experience. The Ensemble will perform on occasion with the school’s jazz band ensemble. 

• Concert Choir
• Chamber Choir
• Show Choir
• Vocal Jazz Ensemble

Our Theatre Education Program provides creative expression, knowledge, and growth in Musical & Dramatic Theatre and Tech including Sets, Lights, Costumes, & Sound.

Theatre education at Bishop McNamara enables students to develop intellectually by expanding their capacities for creative thought and expression and by encouraging critical thinking skills. Furthermore, theatre education fosters personal growth, self-confidence, knowledge, and a variety of skills and attitudes that are transferable to a wide range of careers.

The Theatre Program produces a fall musical and a spring play annually to showcase the many gifts and talents of the Bishop McNamara students. Participation both on and off stage teaches students to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

Traditional African Dance is an essential element of Africa's cultural heritage because it is the living expression of its philosophy and the living memory of its evolution and cultural wealth over the centuries. Students will learn the fundamentals by studying dances from countries of Ghana, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea, and Ivory Coast; these skills are then collaborated into dance theatre. Specific and required skill sets and techniques in African dance are introduced, nurtured, instilled, and developed for general/specific knowledge in ancient traditions of music and dance forms with particular attention to its societal contexts and relevance.

Honors courses are available to Level IV students.  The Traditional African Music & Dance Program performs many times throughout the year for outside performances, as well as the annual show, Sankofa, which is held in the Spring.

Our Visual Arts Program exposes students to many areas of visual arts including painting, sculpture, ceramics, graphic arts,  photography, computer graphics, art history & web design.

The Bishop McNamara Visual Arts Program provides opportunities for our students to develop their understanding and appreciation of the visual by exposing students to sculpture and ceramics, computer graphics, painting, photography, graphic arts, mechanical drawing, art history and internet web page design.

We offer a wide selection of visual art courses designed with college-bound students in mind. Whether taught in the studio or computer labs, these courses focus on skills like composition building/layout, elements and principles of design, mastery of materials, and with an emphasis on observational drawing skills. We provide students with an opportunity to experiment with a variety of media and materials using hands-on strategies and emerging technologies. In addition, we offer Advanced Placement courses and other portfolio development opportunities.

Our visual arts program is built on the understanding that exploration through visual art not only enriches a child's scope and view of the world, but also engages high order thinking skills which are crucial for problem solving and achievement.

Our students' art is posted at Artsonia.com - an online museum of art for students.

9507 Drawing
This course is designed to familiarize students with the fundamental vocabulary and drawing techniques utilized by artists.  Concepts like line, shape, space, and shading are explored through work in pencil, pen, and charcoal. 
9512 Color
This course introduces students to the basic color theory, with a focus on mixing techniques and design principles. Students will learn how to manipulate color to create realistic depth, three dimensional forms, to express different emotions, and to create effective compositions. Students will work with acrylic paint, watercolor paint, oil pastel, chalk pastel, colored pencils, and collage materials. 
9521 Advanced Drawing
This course explores more advanced drawing techniques and subject matter. There is a greater emphasis on drawing the human form than in the Drawing course. Work can be tailored to meet the needs of students assembling portfolios for college acceptance. 
9522 Honors Advanced Drawing
This course explores more advanced drawing techniques and subject matter. Honors students are expected to work in a larger format and/or have additional objectives on assignments. 
9523 AP Drawing
This course is a college-level course that focuses on the development of a student's drawing skills. The course emphasizes the exploration of drawing techniques, materials, and concepts to create original works of art. 
9527 Digital Art
This introductory course deals with controlling computer technology to produce an artistic image. Students will learn computer illustration techniques, image manipulation, digital camera use, graphic design, visual literacy, and the principles and elements of art in composition. 
9556 Advanced Digital Art
Students build on the skills and concepts they learned in Digital Art as they develop their vocabulary of digital design elements. By the end of the course students will have created a collection of digital art projects for their digital design portfolio.
9559 AP Studio Art 2-D Design
This course is designed for experienced, highly motivated digital art students. Twenty-four quality photographic works will be required for submitting an AP Studio Art 2-D Design Portfolio. While building the portfolio, students will explore a variety of concepts, techniques, and approaches designed to help demonstrate their abilities and versatility with problem solving and idea generation.  
9588 Yearbook Journalism 
Students in this course are responsible for producing the school yearbook. Students learn skills necessary to write stories, headlines, and captions, shoot and coordinate photographs, and use graphics to organize and design layouts.