When Scottsville resident Barry Long put the finishing touches on two-and-a-half years of work, he was only half-sure it would fit through the door. In his spare time, Long had built two flat-bottomed sailboats in his basement, and now he was prepared to alter the doorframe to get them out. Barry Long documented his boatmaking […]
When I entered elementary school in Tampa, Florida, I flunked my first gifted enrollment test, and had to take it again. Nerves? Socioeconomic status? It wasn’t the most embarrassing moment of my scholastic career; that was likely the day I fell down a hill during cross country practice. But I was invested in my education […]
During a press conference last week, UVA President Teresa Sullivan introduced the school’s newest recruits to the public. Of the 3,450 first year students, 67 percent come from Virginia, 91 percent were in the top 10 percent of their high school classes, and they averaged 1,339 on their SATs. UVA President Teresa Sullivan “This […]
Daniel Willingham thinks of his education as typical. His family moved, so Willingham spent time in different school districts. He went to primary school in New York, and completed junior high and high schools in New Jersey. Ironically, Willingham—now a cognitive scientist in UVA’s Department of Psychology—didn’t love the classroom. Daniel Willingham, a cognitive psychologist […]
UVA’s founder believed it was never too late to learn. With enrollment deadlines passed and classes underway, that may not necessarily feel true. However, we can’t help but stare longingly at this year’s course offerings and plot ways to infiltrate a few compelling classes. Here are some that piqued our curiosity. Peter Onuf’s lecture […]
Do students that meet federal poverty guidelines have less access to advanced studies? The nonprofit news website ProPublica recently released what it calls the “Civil Rights Data Set,” gathered from 2009-2010 school year reports. The data includes numbers on gifted enrollment, free and reduced lunches, and race for every school district with more than 3,000 […]
The line that formed outside the Southwood Community Center stretched out of sight. Moms, dads, students, teachers and administrators gathered on August 16 to get a piece of the fun at the second annual Back-to-School Festival, an event designed to help Southwood families celebrate and prepare for the start of the school year. This year, […]
Ah, politicians and their quasi-legal payola—it’s a love story as old as time. In the good ol’ days, the transfer of cash from businessman to elected official was a relatively straightforward affair, usually involving a fat envelope and a fine Cuban cigar. But as the glory days of William “Boss” Tweed’s Tammany Hall slowly gave […]
“When is this thing going to start?” asks a resident during a redevelopment check-in meeting at Crescent Hall, one of several public housing sites in Charlottesville. Amy Kilroy, director of redevelopment for the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority, answers the same way she has since the start of a summer-long meeting series to discuss redevelopment. “We […]
Days before Ramadan, Islam’s month-long holy fast, the ACLU of Virginia sent letters to sheriffs and jail superintendents throughout the state to reiterate the religious rights of Muslim inmates. Each year, writes ACLU fellow Thomas Fitzpatrick, Muslim inmates complain about meals served during the hours when they are required to fast. The letters remind superintendents that the Department of Corrections provides meals before sunrise and after sunset, as well as a third meal for the late night hours.