My Boarding School Blog
Archive for the 'news' Category
05 19th, 2008 Autistic students progress
Like other graduation ceremonies, there were caps and gowns, emotional parents and applause from the audience.
All such ceremonies are poignant, but this one stood out.
Two high school seniors with severe autism received certificates to mark the completion of their 12th year of school Thursday. They attend an alternative program called Step-Up, at the Stepping Stones Center in Indian Hill. The program for autistic teens is the only one of its kind in Greater Cincinnati.
Frank Tolliver couldn’t stop smiling as he held his certificate and posed for photos. Eric Cain was more reserved and probably wondered if people would ever stop snapping pictures.
“It’s good!” Frank said of his moment in the spotlight. He wore his mother’s cap and gown.
“I am so proud of him,” said his mother, Sandra Tolliver. “We are looking for nothing but good things from him.”
Eric’s mom, Dorothy Payne, was proud, too: “I’m not a crier, but I might cry later.”
It was the first such ceremony for the Step-Up program, which is about 4 years old. Technically, it wasn’t a graduation but a completion ceremony. The two will continue at Stepping Stones because school districts are obligated to educate special needs students until age 22.
Those in the Step-Up program for teens have classic autism, which is the most severe form. Among their characteristics: hypersensitivity to their environment, including noises, touches and other stimuli; non-verbal; aggressive or violent behavior.
Those who run the Step-Up program see progress in all eight students currently enrolled.
Read the news article here.
read comments (0)05 17th, 2008 Violence in L.A high school
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A fight at a troubled South Los Angeles high school escalated into a campuswide brawl involving as many as 600 students before it was quelled by police officers in riot gear.
The melee, which students said was between rival black and Hispanic gangs and started around noon on Friday, forced the authorities to shut down the school, Locke High, and keep students in their classrooms. After restoring order, they rounded up those involved and separated them, holding Hispanic students in the gymnasium and black students in another room.
Four people were arrested, three students for fighting and one nonstudent on suspicion of possessing a knife, said Susan Cox, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles school district.
Several students were injured and treated at the scene, officials said.
A music teacher, Reggie Smith, told The Los Angeles Times that it was a chaotic scene and difficult to distinguish between those fighting and those trying to avoid the mayhem.
“The kids were crazy, running from place to place, jumping on other kids,” Mr. Smith said. “Some of my kids were crying because they were walking to class with friends and they got jumped.”
Victor Wong, an 18-year-old senior, told The Times that the brawl grew out of a fight two days earlier between two graffiti gangs. He said Hispanic students who were friends of his asked him to participate in a fight planned for Friday that was to pit 10 Hispanic students against 10 black students.
Read the full story here.
05 16th, 2008 The better teachers for children at-risk
We Have Charts and Graphs. The data is unequivocal: in 1998-1999, 24,000 new teachers have entered teaching through alternative certification routes; in total, nationwide, since about 1985, about 125,000 individuals have been added alternatively. Unlike graduates of traditional routes, these individuals share characteristics that make them a superior choice to teach all children, especially children at risk. They already have degrees, are more likely to have work experience outside professional education; they tend to be older than traditional graduates, they are more likely to be people of color and more are likely to be male. This research is not new; findings like these have held consistent for the last fifteen years and can be verified in scholarly journals and refereed articles from many sources.
Read the full story here.
05 15th, 2008 Standard curriculum is not enough
If you reviewed Dalton Sargent’s report cards, you’d know only half his story. The 15-year-old Altadena junior has lousy grades in many subjects. He has blown off assignments and been dissatisfied with many of his teachers. It would be accurate to call him a problematic student. But he is also gifted.
Dalton is among the sizable number of highly intelligent or talented children in the nation’s classrooms who find little in the standard curriculum to rouse their interest and who often fall by the wayside.
With schools under intense pressure from state and federal mandates such as No Child Left Behind to raise test scores of low-achieving pupils, the educational needs of gifted students — who usually perform well on standardized tests — too often are ignored, advocates say.
Nationally, about 3 million kindergarten through 12th-grade students are identified as gifted, but 80% of them do not receive specialized instruction, experts say. Studies have found that 5% to 20% of students who drop out are gifted.
04 18th, 2008 Non-coed public schools
12 20th, 2007 Boarding School Blues
The storied boarding schools of the East are as well-mannered, wealthy and academically rigorous as they ever were. Indeed, many are broadening their curriculums and ridding themselves of anachronistic customs. But they are not so exclusive or sought after as in the past. In selecting students for the fall term, some of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious preparatory schools have found applications decreasing. Hence the schools cannot be as selective in choosing their students as they used to be.
Things have come to such a pass that a qualified student can still get into some boarding schools in time for the September term. Williston, Tilton and Pomfret, for instance, still have vacancies. Phillips Exeter, while it has no openings, has experienced a decline in applicants during the past few years —and applications are also off at such elite girls’ schools as Emma Willard, the Masters School and Ethel Walker.
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11 9th, 2007 Study Abroad: What’s It Worth?
New horizons will always have an engaging appeal, especially to youthful college students. As studying outside one’s own country becomes more and more popular, tips on how to deal with expenses become increasingly valuable. Obtaining financial aid continues to be an indispensable way to cope with the costs of living and studying abroad.
It’s bad enough when teachers have to deal with disaffected students. Dealing with disaffected students armed with a plethora of hi-tech gadgets is even worse.
11 7th, 2007 A Little Bit of Local Help
Two people move into a new town and decide to start a boarding school to get youngsters off the streets and provide a health learning environment. The couple get featured in the local news. After that, local residents contribute to assist the little boarding school.
Fairy tale?