Word: voss
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
When half time is over, Principal Voss corrals kids back into the stands. "There are parents and alums who are always here, always in the same seats," she says. Then she pauses, looking out over the field. "The kids always say they can't wait to get away from here," she remarks, with the knowing tone of one who has seen generations seep through her school, "but they always end up coming back...
...field is empty, and the last students are spilling out of the parking lot, windows down and music blaring. Principal Voss huddles in the center of the parking lot with assistants Clark, Raimondo and White, and Detective Dreher. "You almost work 24 hours a day at this job," says John Raimondo. "I've been going since 6 this morning." For her part, P.V.'s school day started at 5:45, "but it's pretty normal for me to leave this late on a Friday...
That chilling little drama took place last week, and now, 20 minutes before the opening bell, 10 fully caffeinated members of the Webster Groves staff, led by principal Voss, are discussing what to do about it--beyond the temporary suspension the student received straightaway. The group comprises what the school calls a Safe Team. It includes all the student's teachers, a guidance counselor, the school's part-time social worker and its police liaison officer. The team's first concern is to get the troubled student the help he obviously needs. But there's another mission, and an undercurrent...
...fact, the snoop-to-student ratio at Webster is quite high. Voss has selected 60 kids for her Principal's Student Leadership Group, whose duties include reporting any incidents or smoldering resentments that might lead to trouble. Kids who look or act different at Webster know the walls have ears. Meanwhile, Voss and her assistants, walkie-talkies in hand, routinely roam the halls between classes. In order to avoid the appearance of a police state, it seems, Webster Groves has had to create a real...
...sweet and the stars are out, the milky streetlamps still lit at 5:45. It would be a great morning to be fishing. The school doors are already open when principal Pat Voss pads up the front steps in her cranberry Goofy T shirt and heads for the main office. Nancy Giessmann is in the cafeteria making breakfast, Vron Murphy is in the office doing photocopying left from the night before. The flag next to the front steps is still flying at half-staff, in honor of the teacher who dropped dead in the hallway between periods two weeks...