School Survival

CHICAGO, Nov. 23 - On weekdays, during what are normal school hours for most students, the Billings children do what they want. One recent afternoon, time passed loudly, and without order or lessons, in their home in a North Side neighborhood here.Hayden Billings, 4, put a box over his head and had fun marching into […]

YESTERDAY'S Sunday Times said British cops are testing distance microphones to detect aggressive conversations on the street.They could easily be linked to the network of CCTV cameras which already snap subjects in Blighty over 300 times a day.According to the report, the mikes will pick up "aggressive tones" using 12 factors including sound level, pitch […]

One recent day at the Brooklyn Free School, the "schedule" included the following: filming horror movies, chess, debate and making caves for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.Not that the students had to go to any of these sessions. At this school, students don't get grades, don't have homework, don't take tests, and don't even have to […]

Older News, but still good: Looking back at El Camino Real High School's embarrassing bout with censorship last week, it's hard not to conclude that the Woodland Hills campus would be better off if the students -- and not the administrators -- were in charge.Because while the students have demonstrated humor, common sense and self-restraint, […]

The father of a 12-year-old boy paddled by a coach last week at Murfreesboro Schools has taken the matter to the police, and the case has been turned over to the deputy prosecuting attorney for consideration, according to Murfreesboro Police Chief Mark Barnes.Barnes said the boy's father is claiming that excessive force by assistant coach […]

After a Home School Legal Defense Association member family filed a notice of intent to conduct home instruction with East Lyme Public Schools, they received a letter from the school district instructing them to make an appointment "in order to review the curriculum [the family would] be providing." Apparently this proposed curriculum review was an […]

On October 9, 2006, the North Carolina Division of Non-Public Education (DNPE) sent a letter to some homeschooling families in the Raleigh/Johnston County area requesting that they meet with a representative of DNPE on November 2 to review their school records. Parents agreeing to meet with the state official were required to bring their children […]

HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) - A sticky situation at a school has come unglued. Police on Wednesday arrested two teenagers who they believe broke into their school last week and put glue in all the door locks.The teens, whose names are being withheld because of their age, were charged with burglary and criminal mischief, police spokesman […]

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - A 5-foot-long boa constrictor caught slithering around a middle school had some help getting to class. His owner, a student at Wooddale Middle School, smuggled the reptile in his backpack on Thursday. The student, who was not identified by school officials, was disciplined.Boa constrictors, which squeeze their prey to kill, are […]

WINFIELD, Kan. (AP) - Two students are accused of putting staples in ketchup at the Winfield high school and middle schools - an incident that has school officials reviewing their kitchen-access policy.Officials were alerted after two students eating lunch found the staples in their food Wednesday. Food service workers found more staples in the bottom […]