Hundreds of residents packed into downtown Siler City Saturday to attend this year’s Siler City Alive festival.

Visitors took the opportunity to hear live music, enjoy festivities and food and peruse local organizations as they set up booths.

"I think this is great," said Zoann Adams, Siler City resident and president of the town’s Merchants Association. "There’s wonderful people out in Siler City."

The festival began at noon, when Jim Quick and the Coastline Band took to the Rotary stage.

The band immediately set the scene as a fun, upbeat festival.

"I enjoy it," said Sam Zinaich, a Siler City resident and owner of Stained Glass by Sam. "It’s a great band. There’s a lot of people in town."

One of the biggest bonuses, Zinaich said, was getting people in from other areas.

Visitors came from out of the county to attend the event, he said, hailing from Carrboro and beyond.

"I’m glad we could get them downtown to see what we have to offer," Zinaich said.

As the band rocked out, patrons had a number of other entertainment options open to them.

Kids could jump around on any of three bounce castles, including an obstacle course.

Meanwhile, parents could shop around at the many vendors on the scene.

Crafts, such as locally made sand art and specialized fragrances, were up for sale amid the variety of food and other attractions in the area.

For lunch or dinner, families had a number of options ranging from fried chicken to burgers, Greek cuisine, funnel cakes, cheesecake-on-a-stick and plenty more.

Jordan-Matthews High School has been ranked as one of the top five schools in the state by U.S. News.

The national magazine ranked the school as the fourth best school in North Carolina.

"We are very excited about the recognition. I think it shows what a great job our students have done," Jordan-Matthews Martin McDonald said.

The schools were judged based on a three step process.

The first step determined whether each schools’ students performed above what was statistically expected for the average student in North Carolina.

Reading and math results for the state’s high school proficiency tests from all students were used to judge the schools. The percentage of economically disadvantaged students enrolled at each school were then factored.

The second step determined focused on the performance of each school’s least-advantaged students. Each school’s math and reading proficiency rates for disadvantaged students were compared with the statewide results.

The final step focused on college-readiness performance. Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate test data were used as a way of determining success.

Alex Cheek plays at Pittsboro’s Relay for Life Friday night where walkers and teams raised money for cancer research. Cheek and the band he was playing with was just a part of the entertainment throughout the night and Saturday morning. For more photos see page 11-B in this week’s Chatham News/Record.

The NC Arts Incubator, located in Siler City, has recently found several potential sources of income to fight off an impending financial disaster that could lead to its closure.

On May 7, after several county- and town-level meetings, including a joint board of commissioners meeting between the two, the county agreed to consider a funding request.

As the county’s staff presented the commissioners with the proposed budget, Assistant County Manager Renee Paschal said that $34,216, equivalent to six months of lease payments, had been earmarked for the Incubator.

"It’s in the budget," said Ann Bass, the Incubator’s executive director. "That’s huge."

If the commissioners agree to keep the funding, the money could go toward a number of projects, including hiring a staffer for the sole purpose of creating new revenue-generating programs.

But Bass said she’s waiting to see if there will be any strings attached to the funding.

One of her chief concerns is whether the Incubator’s staff will be able to use the money as they see fit, or if the county will mandate it for line-item purposes, Bass said.

County Commissioner Sally Kost said that any conditions for the grant will be chosen in the near future.

"That will probably be decided when the commissioners have a work session," Kost said.

She added that there will likely be expectations tacked onto the grant, such as a detailed business plan.

Over the next three years, Chatham Charter School will be expanding into a K-12 school.

"As we have grown, so has our student base," Chatham Charter School Board President Kathy Wilson said.

In order to meet the expanding student base, Chatham Charter School plans on opening ninth and tenth grades by the fall of 2013. The following year, the school will open the eleventh grade.

By 2015, the school plans to be an entirely K-12 school. The school is targeting 50 students per grade level.

"We want to maintain small class sizes while still expanding," Wilson said.

Wilson said that a survey asking interest in the new grade levels was conducted.

"The results were very positive," Wilson said.

Chatham Charter has already updated some of its facilities to accommodate the expansion. The gym at the school has been updated to meet the qualifications needed for high school sports.

"We were losing students in middle school who wanted to play basketball or other sports in high school. Now we are equipped to be able to have sports’ teams play in our gym," Wilson said.

However, new classrooms will have to be built on the school’s site to house the new grade levels.

The school will also be making some changes in administration. Headmaster Ronnie Joyce has cut back his time at the school, now taking on around three days a week.

Additionally, Dr. John Eldridge has been added to the staff. Eldridge is currently the Headmaster of grades K-8 and will become the Headmaster of grades K-12 once the expansion is complete.

Eldridge was previously a regional superintendent with Guilford County Schools. From 1998-2001 he served as Assistant Principal at Bonlee School and was Principal of Chatham Central High School from 2001-2005.