Theater at MS 839

At MS 839, the effect of students engaging with the performing arts during the school year is clear- increased confidence, improved collaboration skills, a mutual trust among students involved in these classes, a healthy culture of constructive feedback, and huge pride in their final product, shared with an audience of their peers.

Every student at MS 839 has participated in performances as an actor, director, stage manager, or designer. When the curtain goes up, all students feel a sense of ownership in the production they've worked together to create. Surrounded by the school community, family, and friends in the packed auditorium, students experience their hard work made public for an authentic and engaged audience- one of the central goals of all subject learning at MS 839. As the new school in the neighborhood, we are constantly working to establish connections with our community- both the elementary and D75 schools that share our campus, as well as local organizations in our area of Brooklyn. As we build our capacity for larger scale performances, we hope to expand the scope of audiences we invite to experience our student’s work and impact our community in a positive way. A parent whose child was involved in the spring musical recently wrote that “theater has a kind of magic that can capture everything great about learning and community”. Having seen the influence it has on the students at our school, we couldn’t agree more.