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<br /> NARRATIVE
<br /> SCHOOL PROFILE
<br /> Founded in 1958, Estes Hills Elementary School is one of the oldest schools in the
<br /> Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district. Estes Hills is a neighborhood school in the
<br /> truest sense, as many students from the surrounding homes walk or bike to school every
<br /> day. This proximity to the nearby neighborhoods results in a high level of parental
<br /> involvement in the school. In the current academic year (2013-2014), Estes Hills
<br /> Elementary serves 507 children from kindergarten through fifth grade. The school has 22
<br /> traditional classrooms, and offers programs in Exceptional Education, Gifted Education,
<br /> and English as a Second Language. Estes Hills also provides "specials" instruction in
<br /> French, Art, Music, and Physical Education. Last year a Head Start pre-school program
<br /> was added to the campus and it currently serves 13 children. Our student body is fairly
<br /> evenly divided along gender lines (283 Male / 224 Female), and has a diverse racial
<br /> composition: White (59%), Hispanic (14%), Black (13%), Asian (7%), and Multi-Racial
<br /> (5%). For the 2014-2015 academic year, we anticipate a similarly structured study body.
<br /> SCHOOL ARTS PROGRAMS
<br /> • Estes Hills offers Art and Music instruction in accordance with the North Carolina
<br /> Standard Course of Study for elementary school students, with a full-time
<br /> professional in each "specials" discipline: Art, Music, and Physical Education (which
<br /> incorporates Dance).
<br /> • The volunteers leading the PTA's Cultural Enrichment Committee promote the
<br /> cultural arts in education by bringing professional artists to perform at our school.
<br /> During 2013-2014, the following performers visited Estes Hills Elementary School:
<br /> Project Trio presented two performances, one for the K-2nd and one for the 3rd_5th
<br /> grades. Project Trio, a passionate, high-energy chamber music ensemble comprised
<br /> of three virtuosic composer/performers from Brooklyn, New York, brought
<br /> instrumental music fused with hip-hop, rock, and pop to our school. Project Trio took
<br /> our students on a journey through multiple genres and styles of music, including
<br /> classical, jazz, rock, salsa, hip-hop, as well as their own original music. The group
<br /> also encouraged full audience participation at various times throughout their shows.
<br /> Felix Pitre performed twice, once for the K-2nd grade students and once for the 3rd-
<br /> 5th grade students. Mr. Pitre presented his original work, "Stories & Songs of Latin
<br /> America," during which he shared many of the Hispanic traditions that were passed
<br /> down to him from his own family, bringing to life the culture of Latin America with
<br /> puppetry, stories, songs, instruments, and dance. In his finale, audience members
<br /> played Latin American percussion instruments as everyone joined in the Cuban
<br /> favorite, Guantanamera.
<br /> Li Liu brought her show "Traditions of Chinese Acrobatics" to grades K-2"d. Ms. Liu
<br /> has dedicated her life to training and performing acrobatic skills all over the world,
<br /> starting at the young age of six. Her performance included hand balancing, plate
<br /> spinning, trick cycling, foot juggling, ribbon dancing and Chinese water bowl
<br /> manipulation, while touching on various aspects of Chinese language, geography,
<br /> and culture. During her show, students got a hands-on shot at trying some of the
<br /> easier skills such as ribbon dancing and basic plate spinning. They also learned the
<br /> Estes Hills Elementary School, Page 1 of 3
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