Lions, dragons, dancing, and music streamed through the hallways of East Point Academy.

They were celebrating the Chinese New Year.

East Point is a Chinese immersion school in West Columbia.

Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, or Lunar New Year, is the most important and widely celebrated holiday in China. It is a time for family celebrations, honoring ancestors and wishing luck and good fortune in the year to come.

To celebrate, the school’s students performed Chinese dance, chorus, strings and orchestra, drum team, theatre, and live calligraphy painting to mark the occasion.

Celebrations began with a traditional Dragon Dance followed by a Lion Dance signifying prosperous times in the year to come.

“Our students are amazing” said Head of School Mark Bounds. “They shine academically, including learning a second language, in their extracurricular activities, in service to the community and the fine arts.”

Special guest performers included Ms. Shijun Cheng performing the flute as Art Club students painted, Dr. Zhihe Yuan accompanying the Honors Chorus on piano, and a traditional martial arts dance called Gongfu was performed by Yifan Zhang.

Students, family members and community leaders attended the show. “These students are so talented. It was the best school performance ever,” said parent Kimberly Shoulders.

East Point Academy is a Mandarin Immersion free Public Charter School that provides rigorous academics with a global focus to students from 4-year-old kindergarten to 8th grade.

Visit www.eastpointsc. org for more information or call 803-926-5180 to schedule a tour.