Word: websterisms
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...most remarkable thing about the social warfare of Webster Groves is that there isn't much. There are clubs and tribes, unwritten dress codes and anxious social climbers who admit to their fear of being seen talking to the wrong person. And yet there is something almost diverse about the divisions: "It's very cliquish here," says junior Lauren Bell, "but each group is actually very mixed--it's not all the jocks, all the preps, all the punks, and I like that." Lauren sometimes considers herself an outsider, albeit a straight-A, cheerleading one. "You become a target...
...house after school. "The girls love him," laments one jock. At some schools the rumor is that athletes get special treatment, that they are able to slide by in their work or their conduct because even the teachers treat them like stars. To a degree, some Webster jocks take advantage of their status, but others argue that expectations are actually higher for them. "Teachers look at you differently when you play a sport," says soccer player Bo Biggs. "They want us to be role models." When he is late with an assignment or fools around in class, the response...
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...
Over the summer Webster Groves administrators reviewed the school shootings of recent years--what they had in common, what warning signs were missed, what safety measures might have made a difference--and then formulated a new security strategy. They rejected the metal detectors and bomb-sniffing dogs routinely employed by many schools in favor of an aggressive program of prevention and early detection--not just of obvious threats and violence but also of anything that might lead that way, including petty conflicts among cliques. Says assistant principal Raimondo: "We're trying to pay more attention to kids on the front...
...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...