The San Joaquin County Office of Education’s Artists-in-Schools Program brings in local artists to schools throughout the county.

The goal of the program is to improve education of the arts for both teachers and students by encouraging creativity and self-expression during the four- to eight- week residency sessions.

The Ripon Unified School District entered into an agreement with SJCOE last week for the Artists-in-Schools Program to come to Weston Elementary School.

Included are four-week sessions beginning on Oct. 15 consisting of eight dance and 10 classes occupying 18 classrooms during that span.

Providing the instructions will be Patti Johnson, Mario Tejada and Sonya Huff, who are temporary employees for SJCOE.

They’ll work with the each of the participating classes for an hour per week, according to SJCOE.

Lesson plans are developed according to the artist’s area of expertise and are California Standards-based.