July 20, 2008 - July 26, 2008 Archives

The limitations of a portable AC unit were made clear to me last night, as I tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep in what felt like a sauna. Two clicks to the right and a sudden whoosh of cold air would fill the stifling room. Minutes later, however, I’d have to shut it off, as I shivered beneath the covers. I’d drift off to sleep … then … hey, it’s hot again!

On. Off. On. Off. That’s how it went all night. I shouldn’t complain, though. At least I have air conditioning, which is more than many schools have in this battle against the effects of global warming, which is making this summer one of the most uncomfortable in recent memory.

Many of these schools are in older cities and towns, where their buildings exceed the average national age of 44 years. I don’t envy the staff or the students who are attending summer school. How well do you think you would perform, after enduring a long hot bus ride, only to sit and sweat in a dank classroom?

Aside from the academic gains that might be hampered by such excessive heat, I wonder (and really, I’m quite curious) what kind of hit school districts are taking in order to operate summer school programs, given the escalating cost of fuel and electricity. Schools that run year-round also are free to weigh in, too. What are you doing to beat the heat?

Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor

Question: What do these three things have in common? Northern Virginia’s sprawling Tyson’s Corner shopping and business center. Downtown Boston before the “Big Dig.” And that early 20th century creation: the comprehensive high school.

Answer: They’re all big, impersonal developments that need -- or needed -- to be brought back to human scale.

Billions of dollars could be spent in coming decades trying to remake the humongous suburban metropolis known as Tyson’s into a place that’s as friendly to pedestrians as it is to cars. Billions more were spent (and, unfortunately, sometimes misspent) on Boston’s effort to do something similar with its historic downtown.

We’re talking human scale here, and it’s a concept that’s also being applied to K-12 education. There was a time when the large, comprehensive high school was to education what the snaking freeways -- vast ribbons that cut urban dwellers off from their downtowns and waterfronts -- were to urban planning: symbols of progress. Not anymore.

Across the country, school districts are creating smaller schools that are, in some ways, a throwback to the neighborhood schools of the past. But they also are “comprehensive” in their own way, often offering community support services, medical and counseling centers, and other facilities that help build bonds among families, schools and communities. I wrote about one of these schools -- George Washington Community School in Indianapolis -- last year for the final story in my Children at Risk series.

And in October, Associate Editor Joetta Sack-Min will write about how demographic changes throughout the nation are marking the idea of community schools even more attractive.

Districts can be recognized for their work in developing community schools through the 2008 Richard Riley Award. Sponsored by the American Architectural Foundation in partnership with Knowlegeworks Foundation, the annual award recognizes “design and education excellence for schools as centers of community.”

And for more information on community schools and their benefits, see the Coalition for Community Schools.

Lawrence Hardy, Senior Editor

We’ve written a lot here recently about school food service and rising costs and the impact it’s having on students and their families. One of school officials’ greatest concerns has been that the neediest students may go hungry this summer without the guarantee of a school meal.

With that in mind, California’s education department recently expanded its summer feeding program for students eligible for free and reduced price meals. And while final numbers aren’t in yet, there’s anecdotal evidence that more children are stopping by schools, community centers, and parks for a free breakfast or lunch.

"The economy has been going downhill, and with gas prices and food prices going up, just the cost of living is going up, many low-income families cannot afford to have their children not get that lunch," Ronna Jakobitc, the summer food service program manager for the California Department of Education, told the Torrence Daily Breeze.

The program is not new, but it hasn’t gotten a lot of interest in recent years, even though more than half of California students qualify for the free- or reduced-price lunch program. All the sites hand out meals to anyone age 18 or younger and do not require proof of eligibility.

“It's important to provide this service to the community, especially in this economy,” said Criss Atwell, director of nutrition services at Modesto schools, told the Modesto Bee. “We have a high free- and reduced-lunch population. These students don't have access; this may be their only meal of the day.”

The meals are paid for with state and federal funds, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell recently announced the state will add $1 million to start and expand programs this summer.

If you missed our June issue on school food services, you can read it here.

Joetta Sack-Min, Associate Editor

InnoCentive, as I learned from a recent New York Times article, is a company that has found a niche; connecting companies and organizations with problems to creative individuals who can offer solutions. The incentive is money. Monetary rewards for the one idea that actually works.

This idea, by the way, of offering up cash prizes to the clever person who can fix a thorny issue, is nothing new--- though today, the call for help has incorporated the advantages of technology, by sending the call out to just about anyone in the public, regardless of field, background, and education. Truly, solutions can come from the most unlikely of places. InnoCentive calls it Open Innovation.

I wondered; could it work for schools? Now, the education system, I know, is based on a collaborative structure that is supposed to encourage working together to find and share new ideas. But if large, global corporations with impressive R & D operations are willing to look outside its lab walls for help couldn’t public schools do that, too?

For the record, the problems posited on InnoCentive’s website are mostly science and business-related, though there are calls for help on broader issues like how to improve American healthcare and help people make long-term lifestyle changes. Who knows, perhaps the reason no education problems are on the site is because no one has posed them to a wider audience yet.

Naomi Dillon, Senior Editor