🤓 @imc goes to Veritas Preparatory Academy, a very nerdy school.
🤖 @sophster goes to Metropolitan Arts Institute, a very geeky school.
🤓 Holds an annual “Academic Field Day” complete with “house” names like Newton and Socrates and events like Greek speed translation and poetry recitation.
🤖 Holds an annual “Field Day” but only about 10% of the kids participated so they added face painting and costuming as events.
🤓 Biggest event of the year is the Illiadathon where the kids stay at school all night and play games/eat pizza while students and teachers take turns doing a non-stop dramatic reading of the entire Illiad (some in Greek and some in English).
🤖 Biggest event of the year is Halloween celebration when the kids all stay late, wear elaborate costumes, eat pizza and play games.
🤓 Dress standard is plaid skirt, white oxford, or white or blue polo, socks, and brown dress shoes.
🤖 Dress standard is no offensive slogans on t-shirts, reasonable coverage. David Bowie tees a plus.
🤓 Approved literature is non-contemporary classics.
🤖 Approved literature is undefined but comic books are definitely ok and Sophia is currently reading Portia De Rossi’s memoir for some class.
🤓 Electronic devices are strictly forbidden on campus. Must be powered off and put away at all times, including breaks, lunch, and after school activities.
🤖 Electronic devices are encouraged. I often get texts from Sophia during what I presume is school.
🤓 Big on the Socratic method.
🤖 Big on collaborative projects and integrated art.
🤓 Hair colors not consistent with normal human hair forbidden. Hair color changes mid-semester forbidden.
🤖 No rules on hair color but a stroll of the campus would convince you purple, pink, blue, magenta, and green are highly encouraged.
🤓 Field trip to the ASU cadaver lab.
🤖 Field trip to comicon.
🤓 Senior trip to Washington DC with theater, historical sites, and educational activities.
🤖 Eighth grade trip to Disneyland.
🤓 Latin, Greek, French, Spanish
🤖 German, Japanese, French, Spanish
🤓 No electives except foreign language (required), entirely prescriptive curriculum.
🤖 Electives include film, theater, painting, 3D art, modern dance, ballet. Three electives per student in high school.
🤓 Five one hour periods and one double period (Humane Letters), primarily discussion based with some lecture.
🤖 Forty minute academic periods broken up by art electives, late start, early release, open art labs after school, free homework tutoring every day after school.
🤓 Meticulously planned and organized, expert fundraisers, carefully communicated activities, professional music and theater productions.
🤖 A GoFundMe page and an occasional email about head lice. Genuine confusion expressed whenever I ask a question. (Insert joke about “artists” here.)
🤓 Annual parent night at the start of the year where parents have ten minute mock classes with each teacher (with real lessons, in class readings, and sometimes a quiz). Annual parent-teacher conferences with the panel of teachers and the student present.
🤖 No parent teacher conferences of any kind.
🤓 Brilliant engaging students.
🤖 Brilliant engaging students.
🤓 Perfect for Isabel (if a bit restrictive and parochial.)
🤖 Perfect for Sophia (if a bit loose and unchallenging.)
Archived Post
This post is archived from my account on li.st, a social media app that shut down in 2017. Some posts have been edited slightly to fix typographical errors and correctly represent the gender of some individuals. You can view the full archive here.