The 21st Century School

[jamesq]

The new school should not be a single use building. It should have all the functions of a modern school, but it should allow for use by non-students during off hours.

From seven to five it would be a regular school (the extra hours account for the fact that teachers work even when classes aren't in use). From five to ten it would be a multi-use building - part community center, part continuing adult education. People would be able to rent out the facilities on the weekends. This would hopefully cover the costs associated with the added wear-and-tear on the building and the extra security/administration needed.

In particularly densely populated areas, make the building multi-story and add permanent offices or shops. As long as there is some green space for recess or after-school community/intramural use, I have no problem with non-school related activities.

The schools should be open year-round, without the two-month summer break. There are year-round schools in cowtown, but they're the exception rather then the rule. I think it's long past the time that society realised it doesn't need to let the kids out for two months to help their parents get the harvest it. I was a city boy and never swung a scythe or drove a tractor, so why did I need one big summer vacation. I'd rather have had more, shorter, vacations anyway.

Comments

[wackynephews.livejournal.com]

I like all of your ideas and I would happily send my future kid to your school. I would like to see a three week vacation in summer, two weeks at Festivus, an dthe rest split up amongst the rest of the time. I think you would end up with less bored kids as they don't get the constant repitition of school for three months straight.

The only thing I would add would be to find some way to get Gym curiculuum to find more stuff for the uncoordinated to do.

[jamesq]

From a much earlier post:

"I'm convinced that knowledge is the best weapon against despair. I think that's why comprehensive sex education that includes birth control techniques is more effective than abstinence-only sex education. I also think that the school system's physical education classes should be comprehensive fitness programs, not sports-based classes where the object is to divide the kids into winners and losers (or worse, the dodge ball court, where you divide the kids into bullies and victims. Yeah, I'm still bitter about elementary school, you got a problem with that?). Mostly we need to find out how to motivate people to be more active."

[wackynephews.livejournal.com]

Bingo...sports are good for building self esteem...if you're good at them. On the other hand fitness is great for everyone.

And this is coming from a guy who's pretty good at sports.