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f <br /> EPHESUS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL <br /> SPRING 2012 ARTS IN EDUCATION GRANT APPLICATION NARRATIVE <br /> SCHOOL PROFILE <br /> During the 2011-2012 calendar year, Ephesus Road Elementary School enrolled 435 students. Roughly <br /> 40%of the Ephesus population, consisting of students between kindergarten and grade 5, receive free <br /> or reduced lunch and breakfast. The diversity is great:the student breakdown is approximately 47% <br /> Caucasian, 28%African American, 16% Hispanic and 9%Asian (many Burmese and Karen). English is a <br /> second language for roughly 17%of the students. Ephesus Elementary was named a School of <br /> Distinction with High Growth for the 2010-2011 school year, meaning that between 80 and 90%of the <br /> students taking the End of Grade tests were judged to be proficient at grade level. Adequate Yearly <br /> Progress was achieved as defined under the No Child Left Behind Act. <br /> SCHOOL'S ARTS PROGRAMS <br /> Currently all students in kindergarten to grade 5 receive once weekly instruction in Art and Music in <br /> accordance with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for elementary school students. Nara <br /> Strickland is the full-time art teacher and Patricia Penrose-Thompson is the full-time music teacher. <br /> Each year,the Ephesus' PTA promotes the cultural arts by sponsoring in-school performances by <br /> different artists chosen by the PTA cultural enrichment committee. These performers have been vetted <br /> by the Arts Center in Carrboro. The purpose is to enrich the arts'teaching at the school by exposing the <br /> children to various art forms and artists of differing backgrounds and points of view. During the 2011- <br /> 2012 year,the committee sponsored Doug Berkey's"Gems:The World's Wisdom Stories": storytelling <br /> using masks, mime, and puppetry;and David Gonzalez' "Tales from the Latino World" an entertaining <br /> storyteller with rich tales from the Spanish-speaking world. Previous performers have included the <br /> percussive dancing of the Cane Creek Cloggers; Kunikq Yamamoto, a Japanese storyteller; and Marsh <br /> Madness a musical performance about coastal ecology by Roger Day. <br /> For the first time, Ephesus participated in the PTA Reflections contest with the theme "Diversity Is...." <br /> Forty-six students submitted entries in categories as diverse as fine arts, photography, literature and <br /> music. Three student's pieces were chosen to compete at the district level and fifth grade student, Ian <br /> Aquino won first place in the district and state for his fine arts piece entitled "Community Stew". His <br /> piece has now gone on to compete at the national level. <br /> This year,the graduating fifth graders will also be doing a dance workshop taught by Ronald West from <br /> "i am Black Irish", a Raieigh-based dance troop. The dance they learn will be performed at their <br /> graduation ceremony on June 8t <br />