AAllman

By Megan SeckmanWhen I toured West End School, located at 36th and Virginia Avenue, it had been Debbie Blair’s third tour that day. Despite the typical end-of-the-school-year-chaos — boxes of binders ready for storage, loads of laundry needing a wash, and hundreds of partial paint cans poised in military precise formations waiting to be purged — and even despite her retirement being only six weeks away, Debbie’s enthusiasm did not wane. This space, a gift from the community, has been a labor of love, and her literal home, since 2005 when her husband Robert Blair, [...]

By Megan Seckman Director Kristina Davis Christensen, who has worked as a special needs coordinator and parent volunteer over her 15 years at Friends School, sat down to tell me about her students’ skills. At the core of the school’s mission are these values, which are cultivated in every child they serve and carry over into the home and community.Treat them as capable. “At Friends, we instill personal responsibility even in our youngest students in preschool. The little guys are expected to unpack their own bags and open their own containers at lunch. If you [...]

By Megan Seckman Here are five skills from West End School you can apply to your own kids at home.Table Manners. Each boy is required to put a napkin on his lap, properly use a knife and fork, keep elbows off the table, and sit up straight. If a woman enters, all boys stand and they jockey over who gets to pull out the chair for her.Respect for authority. West End School teaches students that there will always be an authority figure who will hold you accountable, so you need to learn to respect that [...]

By Megan S. Willman Louisville Classical Academy offers these five things you can apply with your own kids.Encourage them to take a risk. Try something new or delve deeply into something you love. Do it for the joy of doing it. Recent graduate Ruthie Drowin, says that studying Greek and Latin for seven years has shaped her learning in all areas. “Learning both of these languages at the same time fostered my love of languages and even math. It wasn’t until Latin that I realized how much I love puzzles, which made algebra much more fun.”Expand [...]