Home - Arts Based Elementary School

The Arts Based Elementary School (ABES)

ABES is a charter public school that charges no tuition and is open to everyone.

ABES teaches children the basics and beyond through first-hand encounters with:
o Dance
o Music
o Theatre
o Visual Arts

ABES' K-5 students will achieve high academic performance. They learn in classes led by creative and caring certified teachers and through arts partnerships with local arts and cultural agencies.

Research shows that students learn best when they are stimulated in many ways. By teaching through the arts, ABES' students learn all core knowledge required by the State and much more. ABES provides:

o Small class size (15-18 students/classroom) and individualized instruction

o Strong curriculum that exceeds the North Carolina Standard Course of Study

o Exciting inquiry-based interdisciplinary learning, team-taught by certified artist-educators

o Meaningful curriculum that builds on students' real-life experiences and involves their families and community, and

o Stimulating activities that promote students' multiple intelligences and varied ways of knowing.

ABES provides imaginative learning experiences to nurture student character development, self-esteem, and self-confidence. The school works to advance important values and appreciation of art and beauty, democracy, families, individual freedom, personal responsibility, and building social capital -- a better and more inclusive community.

Supported by partnerships with arts and cultural agencies across the Triad, ABES students learn in inspirational ways through contact with our area's rich cultural resources.

The special educational value of ABES' curriculum is built on current research that links:

o Studies of drawing and development of geometric/spatial reasoning

o Visual art and more refined social practices

o Dance/acting and progress in students' social/personal development

o Arts and enhanced cognitive development

o Music and improved reading skills

The school day at ABES begins at 8:15 am and ends at 3:15 pm. For holidays, work days, and vacation times, ABES generally follows the traditional calendar used by the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System. If students and parents have sufficient interest, additional arts enrichment programs can be created on a fee basis.