The New School

[auntysocial]

Comments

[liveavatar]

Holy moly, just looking at the vaguely Art Deco lettering on the sign evoked memories of elementary school in the San Fernando Valley.

Yes, even at the time the school's architecture seemed dull.

[rafqa]

My parents always used to laugh because the "temporary buildings" put up at U.C. Berkeley after WWII were still there when I went to college-- I think they were finally removed a few years ago.

Another beautiful commentary, and I just love that you went to a school named Beethoven.

"Why Johnny Can't Read" was the urtext for phonics fundamentalism. We need a new one-- "Why Johnny Can't Think."

[auntysocial]

I'm not sure we want Johnnie to think too much, anyway.

[tuscendi]

The days when beautiful architecture was supposed to ennoble the spirit had passed.For a couple of years, my son attended a public school on the Lower East Side of New York that was modern in design, one of those low glassy deals instead of the old brick and mortar schools. Not much to look at on the outside, but it had a grand spacious front entrance with beautiful mosaic murals on either side of the lobby, clearly designed to please and inspire the children as they passed into the school. I was shocked to learn that only teachers and administrators were permitted to use this front entrance. The children were required to enter through dinky little back and side doors of the school, thus were never or rarely exposed to the lobby that had been designed to welcome them. I raised hell (politely but eloquently) with the principal and with the PTA and with the local district office, all to no avail. They would not budge from that arrangement, citing "security" and "efficiency". It was horrible. Such a violation of the architectural

[auntysocial]

I remember this story when you posted it on your blog. It horrifies me now as it did then.