RHAPSODY FOR QUAIL VALLEY; SCHOOL SEES LEARNING AS AN ART.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer At Quail quail, common name for a variety of small game birds related to the partridge, pheasant, and more distantly to the grouse. There are three subfamilies in the quail family: the New World quails; the Old World quails and partridges; and the true pheasants and seafowls. Valley School, the halls are lined with reproductions of paintings by Picasso and Van Gogh, the music of Gershwin wafts through the cafeteria cafeteria: see restaurant. , and students have recorded a CD of original songs set for Christmas release. The school uses the arts to inspire and engage its students, a focus that has garnered the 2-year-old campus a nomination for a Bravo Award
``All the recent research . . . shows the correlation between arts education and higher test scores,'' Principal Brenda Smith said. ``Putting arts back in school makes for well-founded children who can appreciate the humanities.'' Quail Valley, a kindergarten-through-sixth-grade school with 800 students, is one of seven schools from four Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, counties nominated for a Bravo Award. The awards are presented by the education division of The Music Center/Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County. Nominees and finalists will be honored and winners announced Feb. 28 at a gala dinner at the Biltmore Hotel Biltmore Hotel is the name of a hotel chain created by hotel magnate John McEntee Bowman. The name evokes the Vanderbilt family's Biltmore Estate, whose buildings and gardens within are privately owned historical landmarks and tourist attractions in Asheville, North in Los Angeles with director Garry Marshall as emcee. A committee of educators, artists, and arts presenters will select the finalists, and a panel of judges Panel of Judges is an indie pop band from Melbourne, Australia. Members
As part of its focus on the arts, Quail Valley sets aside Friday as Fine Arts Friday. On that day the school has Classical Cafe, where students learn about a different composer every month. This past month, students learned about composer George Gershwin from the morning announcements piped into each classroom via television monitors, Smith said. ``Every child heard about Gershwin, where he was born, what he did,'' Smith said. Gershwin's music played during lunch in the cafeteria, where a display on the composer was erected. The school also has an artist of the month. ``We just finished Matisse. Our new one is Ansel Adams,'' Smith said. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1 -- 2 -- color) Above, teacher Ron Schmidig, Kyle Grzybowski, 9, and Brittney Petersen, 9, view flowers and vases while students, left, show off their artwork. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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