Published for the Arts Based School Community
January 30, 2025
ABS Lottery Closes January 31, at 3pm.
How We Do It and Why
By Mary Siebert, Founding Arts Director, retired
“There are shortcuts to happiness, and dancing is one of them.” — Vicki Baum
Next week, each of our five kindergarten classes will perform a re-telling of Peter and the Wolf at the ABS Ewing Black Box Theater, with an audience of wildly enthusiastic fans, namely: their families. There have been weeks of preparation, leading up to this important event.
Kindergarten students and their teachers use Prokofiev’s beloved musical tale to study story structure and sequence, character and setting, and scientific examination of animal movement. They compare the evil wolves in children’s literature with real wolves, discovering that the shy creatures are family-oriented and have been unfairly vilified through much of classic fiction.
Meanwhile, students are exploring the individual characters in the story through music and dance, learning to identify each of them through the musical instrument and the individual melodic themes that are particular to them, as assigned by the composer. They work with their knowledge of animals, people, story, and music to portray the characters through dance. It’s something of a revelation: you can actually tell a story through dance!
After learning all of the movement for all of the characters, the students are each assigned to dance the role of one character from the story, which they then piece together for a public performance attended by their family. The teachers are available to step in at any point, to provide the little dancers with a visual safety net. When the duck appears on stage, there are actually three or more ducks waddling together. If stage fright confuses a little duckling, they can follow their fellow fowls, or look up at their teacher, who will step in as needed. The classroom teacher and assistant wait at the sides with groups of cats, hunters, birds, etc. to remind students when it is time to step onto the stage.
Our 8th graders recall their Peter and the Wolf experience from their kindergarten days with nostalgic delight. They remember themselves not as a group of cats but as THE Cat. For a kindergartener, the combination of working together to tell a story this way is still a very individualized experience, even with safety nets of fellow ducks and teachers in place.
Peter and the Wolf Next Week!
Kindergarten performances of Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf take place next week at the ABS-North campus Ewing Black Box Theater (1380 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.) The show lasts under a half hour, so please arrive early, parking may take some extra time. ABS will make an archival video of each show available to ABS families (available for viewing on Vimeo only.)
Greene’s Class: Monday, Feb 3 12noon
Londoño’s Class: Tuesday, February 4, 12noon
Warren’s Class: Wednesday, February 5, 12noon
Barnes’ Class: Thursday, February 6, 12noon
Heck’s Class: Friday, February 7, 12noon
Conference Time is Coming
Soon your child’s teacher will be setting up conferences to discuss your child’s progress. Students attending the Arts Based School are assessed using a portfolio system in place of the traditional report card. The portfolio is designed to illustrate a student’s academic growth and successes as well as guide the teacher in planning appropriate instruction. Teachers at ABS do not issue letter grades. Teachers use observation, interviews, analysis of student work and performance tasks to assess student understanding. Examples of student work, as well as other objective standards of assessments are incorporated into the student’s portfolio to give an enhanced portrait of the student’s progress. These portfolios will be discussed and presented to parents during the Student-Teacher-Parent conferences. Please be sure you schedule and attend your conference so that you can support your child’s learning.
Conference Days- February 14- Early Dismissal, February 17-No School
K-4 Dismiss at 11:45
5-8 Dismiss at 12 noon
Safety First
Our ABS community looks for ways to provide our children and staff with stability, security, and a collective sense of well-being.
The relatively small footprints of our campuses as well as our entire staff’s knowledge of children and their parents not only nurtures our tight-knit community, but it also sustains a connectedness that enhances our children’s safety. Our community members know and support one another. Children’s safety is always our highest priority. As a result, throughout the course of the year we have several different precautionary drills that include fire, tornado, and lock down drills.
- Fire drills are when we test our response time for evacuation of the building. We conduct these drills monthly. Students are taken outside for this drill.
- For a tornado drill, students are inside away from exterior windows. They are seated with their heads down and hands over the back of their necks. We conduct this drill in March in coordination with the State’s Severe Weather Preparedness week in March.
- For lockdown drills, teachers and students stay in the classroom, turn off the lights and must be silent. We practice this drill twice a year.
Our procedures are based on the state’s crisis intervention kit, provided to all schools. As part of our school safety and crisis plan, we conduct annual lockdown training for staff which includes the children’s orderly following of directions, lockdown “shelter in place”, and common sense decision-making.
Student Intent for 2025-26 School Year
As we prepare for next year’s enrollment lottery (2025-26), it is important to know how many spaces are available in each grade. As a current student, your child has priority placement and no additional action is required until August Required Forms are due. If your child is not returning to ABS for the 2025-26 school year, please notify Director Hollis. Siblings of current students get priority placement, but you must complete an application in Lotterease before Jan 31 deadline.
News from Parent Council
Minute from PC Meeting ABS PC Meeting Minutes 01/17/2025
January Jam
What a fantastic time! January Jam was a huge success, thanks to the hard work of coordinator Erin Sorenson, the awesome beats from DJ Wes Roter, and the dedication of our parent volunteers who sold snacks and helped chaperone. Most importantly, a big shoutout to the kids for showing up and making it an unforgettable party. Together, we raised an incredible $1,400 in just one afternoon!
Kids STEAM Night Out
Join Mrs. Hoffman and Mrs. Gledhill for an evening of science, technology, and art fun on Saturday, February 1st, 5:30-8:30pm! Dinner will be served. All proceeds will benefit the ABS STEAM Club. The cost is $30 per child, $25 for additional siblings. Spots are limited- Registration begins Friday 1/17. Open to any ABS Student K-8.
Sign Up- https://bit.ly/FebSTEAMNight
8th Grade photo request
It's that time again 8th grade parents. Please submit your child's "guess who" baby photo to the yearbook via the online upload system. Please make sure to include your child's full name. The deadline is March 1st. Here is the link to add your photo.
https://plicbooks.com/go/U7BKCX
ABS Yearbook
Here is the link for online ordering for the ABS Yearbook.
Deadline for ordering is March 31st. Yearbooks are $30.00 and will be hardcover this year.
2025 Summer Camps
Mark your calendar now and set a reminder for February 6! Registration and information for ABS summer camps will open to ABS families February 6. We can't wait to share all the details with you!
Crazy Running
We’re all about sparking a lifelong love for fitness in our young athletes! Our coaching style is all about blending fun with fitness, ensuring our kiddos are learning essential skills while having a blast. From drills to plyometrics, we’re shaping not just runners, but strong resilient athletes with a burning passion for the sport. Let’s get them moving, improving and achieving their best. This program will run February 24-April 22 and is $120 per student. This includes the training season, a t-shirt, and season ending race entry for the Crazy Kz Kidz Race on April 26th. Register now HERE!
North Campus K-4: Mondays
North Campus 5-8: Tuesdays
South Campus K-3: Mondays
Mad Science
Mad Science is coming back to The Arts Based School!! In this introductory STEM program, kids explore a variety of introductory topics and learn about the wonders of both the life and physical sciences. They explore themes and answer questions like “What makes your hair stand up?”, “Is it a magnet or magic?”, and “Just what are carbs, anyway?”. See more in this fun video! This program runs from February 26th-April 23rd and is $135. Register now at triad.MadScience.org.
North Campus K-5: Thursdays
South Campus K-3: Wednesdays
Inclement Weather
In the event of inclement weather, ABS will announce school closings and remote learning days on local TV channels, under “The Arts Based School”. This information will also be posted on the ABS website (www.artsbasedschool.com).
Around Town…
Bookmarks & Winston-Salem Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. will be hosting a free family event on Feb. 1st, featuring authors Tameka Fryer Brown and Lamar Giles, as well as African Drumming sessions with Living Rhythms. This is open to the public and those interested can register at this link