School systems have many different ways of serving the students. There are gifted programs, special education programs, and alterative programs for students with bad behavior. In most cases the school districts control these programs with their own resources and staffing. However the Metro school district in Nashville, Tennessee has chosen to look to other resources to get the help that their struggling students’ needs. The school board previously voted to hire an outside program to conduct classes for struggling students. The program, Ombudsman, has a local branch in Nashville and offers help for students that need to “catch-up”. The school … Continue reading →

Many school systems have different ways of carrying out the daily activities of their education system. One such difference lies in the aspect of scheduling and calendar. While many years ago there was basically only one type of school calendar used, today there are several different ones in action. The most common we call the traditional school calendar. In the traditional school calendar, students attend school from August to May and receive a couple of months off for summer break along with a break during the spring and at Christmas. Some feel that the break during the summer is too … Continue reading →

I can remember the days of walking into the cafeteria line and picking up my tray. There were no questions of what I wanted on my plate or what I planned to eat that day. I simply got my food, sat down, and ate. Things are much different in school cafeterias today. The children walk in first thing in the morning and are given several choices for their meal that day. At 8:00 in the morning students are asked to choose between three to six meal choices. In the cafeteria the children must choose among about six different types of … Continue reading →

Previously I had commented on how the rise in gas prices had affected schools. Schools are spending more and more money on transportation. Many field trips have been cut out and districts are losing money on transporting students to and from school. I was actually surprised to see that Middle Tennessee had made the NEA morning reports with their story on how the schools have been negatively affect by gas prices. Just today I noticed that the price had rose another three cents. It seems that it is not going down anytime soon. My district had begun taking measures to … Continue reading →

Previously I began discussion in both article and forum form about the abolition of playing tag on the playground at Kent Gardens Elementary. The principal stopped the game after it became too aggressive. She said some students were getting hurt and others were being forced to play when they did not want to participate. The principal received many unhappy responses to her decision. While some parents were happy that the game had been stopped, others were not. The children were especially upset. They gathered a petition with over 160 names. The students held a protest and gave the principal the … Continue reading →

Some sort of dress code is usually in effect at every school. Some dress codes are stricter than others. While some schools require uniforms other schools only have restrictions on things such as length of shorts and the type of shirts that can be worn. One high school student took her dress code issue to the courts. On her third attempt to get a rule of the school reversed, he was successful. The Neuqua High School student wanted to wear an anti-gay shirt in response to the annual Day of Silence that the school observes. On this day, students may … Continue reading →