Deep Roots With New Branches

This is the fourth article in a series that examines the changing face of East Hampton by following a diverse group of kindergartners from a single class at John Marshall through the school year and beyond.

One day last fall, kindergarten students at the John M. Marshall Elementary School came dressed as what they want to be when they grow up.

For Ephraim Munoz, 5, the choice was an easy one. Donning a tool belt and hardhat, he wore a carpenter’s uniform.

Still, his father, Carlos Munoz, 48, who works as a carpenter and a handyman, has grander dreams for his son’s future. He wants Ephraim to go to college and be a professional — maybe even a doctor. In 1992, Mr. Munoz moved from Cuenca, Ecuador, to East Hampton.

“That is often the hope and dream of the immigrant, and one of the reasons they immigrate, so that their children may become something that they may not have had the ability to become,” explained his mother, Marci Vail, 45, who grew up in East Hampton, with ancestors dating back 13 generations. When she thinks of Ephraim’s future, she’s more focused on him finding something that makes him happy.

By December’s parent-teacher conferences, Ephraim showed steady academic gains, generally performing at or above grade-level. According to his teacher, Kristen Tulp, many of his peers regard Ephraim as a leader.

Ephraim is one of 18 children in Ms. Tulp’s kindergarten class at John Marshall.

According to John Marshall’s 2012-13 New York State Report Card, among the 621 students that school year, 31 percent qualified for either a free or reduced-price lunch. According to the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, a family of four living on an annual income of $30,615 or less currently qualifies for a free lunch, with $43,568 the cutoff for a family of four qualifying for a reduced-price lunch.

As with many local residents trying to make ends meet in a seasonal economy, the winter months are lean times in the Munoz household. Ephraim qualifies for free meals. While breakfast and lunch are served at school, Ephraim takes the bus to school each morning, often eating a bowl of Cheerios at home.

The family lives in the same ranch-style house in East Hampton that Ms. Vail grew up in. Israel, Ephraim’s half-brother, is in the eighth grade at East Hampton Middle School. Natalie, his 18-year-old half-sister, joined the family in December. A United States citizen, she last lived in Colombia. Betty Vail, 78, Ephraim’s grandmother, occupies one of the three bedrooms.

Growing up, Ms. Vail’s father worked as police officer for the East Hampton Village Police, becoming a sergeant before he retired. Her mother was a legal secretary and later a homemaker.

Ms. Vail graduated from East Hampton High School and received a bachelor’s degree in history from Carnegie Mellon University. She also has two master’s degrees — one in secondary education from Duquesne University and another in library science from Southern Connecticut State University, which she completed through a distance-learning program. She formerly worked at the East Hampton Library.

As a child coming of age in Ecuador, Mr. Munoz’s father was a farmer and his mother stayed home, looking after the couple’s eight children. Mr. Munoz graduated high school and enlisted in the military before completing a few years of medical school in hopes of becoming a dentist. Before leaving Ecuador, he last ran a small dump truck and taxicab business.

The couple met at the Christian Church of the Nazarene, a Spanish-speaking congregation, which had been meeting at the Methodist Church in East Hampton. They married in 2004.

As born-again Christians, religion plays a big role in their lives. For the past decade, the family has attended a weekly service at the Community Bible Church in Noyac. Ephraim, which means fruitful, was named after Joseph’s second son in the Old Testament. While Mr. Munoz recently started attending the Calvary Baptist Church in East Hampton, the entire family has yet to make the switch because of a beloved Sunday school program in Noyac.

Though both parents would love for Ephraim to become bilingual, English is the primary language spoken at home. “One of my hopes this year is that it’s supposed to be the year that children learn how to read,” said Ms. Vail. “He likes to pretend that he’s reading, but he’s just beginning to get a handle on it.”

An active, imaginative boy, wooden blocks are a favorite, as are Legos and a toy toolbox. Pizza, along with raspberries, broccoli, carrots, and watermelon are his preferred foods. In social circumstances, Ephraim can be shy at first, but quickly becomes the life of the party.

Most evenings, after Ephraim completes his homework, the family sits down to dinner together. When Ms. Vail was growing up, nearly every house in the neighborhood would pass out Halloween candy. Now, with an increasing number of second homeowners, many of the neighboring houses are unoccupied during the week.

Over the past four decades, she has witnessed a vast change in the backgrounds of year-round residents who call East Hampton home. For instance, the John Marshall that Ms. Vail attended was a markedly different one than the elementary school her son now attends. It wasn’t until middle school, for instance, that Ms. Vail first encountered a classmate who spoke Spanish. By contrast, more than half of the students in Ephraim’s class have Latin American surnames.

“Children are very adaptable. They can just see someone and be friends,” said Ms. Vail, as Ephraim played in the background, tool belt on and pencil behind his ear, during last week’s blizzard. “Ephraim now has a range of play dates with children of different backgrounds — girls included.”