http://www.vouchon.com/tag/academy/ http://www.vouchon.com/post/winn-dixie-high/ I used to teach at Wakefield High School in Raleigh, NC. Last year Wake County school system purchased an old Winn Dixie a mile from the high school and are going to turn it in to the 9th grade academy. An interesting concept, no doubt. However, from a teacher's perspective, it seems like a bad one. We (as a country) are having a hard time keeping teachers teaching. Something like 60% of all teachers quit within the first 5 years of the attempt. The reasons for quitting are varied, but one is the lack of community in schools...the lack of a "normal" working environment where collaboration and community efforts are key. Is the solution really to separate 25% of the teachers from the rest of the school, and isolate them, stranded with the nasty of all nasties...9th graders? If I were the king (am I am most certainly not) this is not an avenue I would steer towards. However, overcrowding is the order of the day and this seems like an easy solution for the moment. Legislate on you free-wheelin' radicals! vouchon! lmccammon 2006-12-23T14:09:55Z