Bella Vista Middle School

The BVMS explore department provides unique opportunities for students to investigate areas outside the core curriculum. We currently offer students eight different classes ranging from Art to Video Production. Each class is one semester long and student rotate to a new class at the semester break. If you have questions about the explore program in general, or any of our classes in particular, please contact any of the explore teachers.

Art

Art is a learned ability which takes practice and patience. Our goal is to teach all students to improve their craftsmanship and skill and to further develop their creativity. In addition to studio art and art history, this class may also incorporate other disciplines. Students will have the opportunity to do studio art projects, historical research, short writing assignments, and some minor math computations. These interdisciplinary lessons show students how art and various subjects are integrated through different tasks.

Band

The Bella Vista Band program provides instrumental music instruction at three levels. Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced. Students are placed as much as possible by grade level to facilitate working schedules at school and peer group working relationships which will follow the band students into High School. Students will work from a band method and also prepare sheet music for three annual concerts. We look forward to seeing you throughout the year at our evening events. Please feel free to come and observe our class at any time.

Computer Education

Keyboarding 
Keyboarding is an 18 week typing course for sixth grade students. We use a typing program called Keyboarding Online and game oriented programs called TypingQuest and Typing.com. Each day, students are responsible for tracking their progress on a daily timesheet. Timesheets are turned in on Fridays for a grade. Throughout the the semester, students will be introduced to various Google Applications.

Computer Essentials
Computer Essentials is a class for 7th and 8th grade students. The primary focus is using Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point). This class also includes an introduction to the internet. Students work through a series of written assignments which teach a variety of skills using MS Office. There is an exit exam given at the end of this course. By passing the exit exam with a score of 70% or better, students will have met the Computer Essentials graduation requirement for Temecula's high schools.

Advanced Computers
This course is for 8th grade students who have taken the Computer Essentials course and passed the exam. Theses students will continue to work with the MS Office tools (including Access) and the Internet but will cover them in much greater detail. Additionally, they will be introduced to basic HTML and will have the opportunity to create their own web page.

STEAM

STEAM education includes five specific disciplines –science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics- in an interdisciplinary approach. STEAM teaches and trains students to engage in critical thinking, inquiry, problem solving collaboration, and what is often referred to in engineering as design thinking. 

Video Production

Introduction to TV/Video Production is a one-semester explore course offered to students in sixth, seventh and eighth grades. The goal of the class is to provide learners with first hand experience in the basics of video production. Students work collaboratively and learn to plan presentations and projects through the use of proposals, scripts and story boarding. Camera operation, film theory, filming techniques such as blocking, framing, in-camera editing, lighting, and an introduction to computer digital editing, will be covered in the course. In this hands-on class, skills will be practiced and improved upon on a daily basis.