School life, between the linesBy Admissions Diary
School stories, admissions adventures, and the things parents talk about on the way home.
School portraits · Chicago
At the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, nursery classes make their own cider in the fall. The yield is modest. The teacher is honest about it.
School portraits · Santa Monica
In April 2020 a Santa Monica school moved a beloved senior tradition online. Cats and rabbits were welcome, and one of the cats was overqualified.
School culture · Across the country
Every fall, seniors get under a hundred characters to define themselves forever. The adults supervising them have already used theirs.
Parent life · Boarding school
A mother's daughter texted from boarding school to ask where the laundry pod goes. I have been married for twenty years and I had the same question.
Parent life · Beyond the classroom
Education Week asked teachers what they want for the holidays, and the mug lost badly. I was already holding one.
School portraits · Houston
Field Day at the Kinkaid School in Houston dates to 1925. In 2017 the morning had karaoke, a pie-eating contest and a ping-pong match that ran too long. The afternoon began with the seniors collecting their buddies.
School portraits · Boston
Every spring, Winsor's seniors secretly plan the ceremony where juniors receive their class rings. The juniors know it's coming, dress up anyway, and insist nothing is happening.
School portraits · New York City
Collegiate School's classics journal publishes students' translations of Greek and Roman poetry. Some of them skip English entirely.
Parent life · School and home
Kindergartens build leprechaun traps every March. Then the traps come home, and a grown-up has to stage an escape at eleven at night without waking anyone.
Parent life · Around the school gates
In a Montessori birthday walk, a child carries a globe around a sun while the class hears about each year of their life. One teacher recalls a family who sent in 117 photographs.
School portraits · McLean, Virginia
The McLean, Virginia, school crowns a retiring teacher as May Day King or Queen. In 2025 the seventh graders insisted. In 2026 an uninvited swarm joined in.
School portraits · Atlanta
Atlanta seniors love the discontinued uniform shirts with piping on the collar. So they inherit them, with family trees, and in one case a sister apologized for not saving any.
