October - 2017

Squeezing All the Fun Out of School

My daughter, Ellen, age 9, brought home a 2-sided flyer from school the other day. Here it is: Also coupled with a “no cupcake” school policy, my daughter’s costume actually made it through the above check-point-standards. Ellen is going to be a genie for Halloween, but she has to put on her costume in the school lavatory sometime around "noonish," tomorrow, anyway, because she isn’t allowed to wear it to school. OK. Not a big deal. While Halloween certainly shouldn’t be t

I Just Spoke to My Son: Student Voice, Activated

My son, Eddie, just started 8th grade this year. He has always been a good student. He usually works hard. Eighth grade in our school district now resides at the “high school level” and along with that, a dreaded 7:45 a.m. start time exists. Often tired from doing homework each night and playing travel ice-hockey, Eddie, most certainly, likes some things about school, but he also really dislikes some things about school. Probably every kid does. I did. But, what I find