in theory it may work but in my experience at hla, the older kids were bored and just sat there while the younger kids were absolutely confused. the teachers ended up dumbing-down the lessons and spending more time with the younger kids than the older. although this is not the case for spanish class with doug T. another problem is that the younger kids would be mentally intimidated by the older and smarter kids. also there was alot of emotional abuse between classmates becouse the 12th graders couldnt stand sitting through 20 minuits of the teacher explaining something they've heard and learned over and over throughout the years. so they'd take out their frustration on the younger kids. HLA is like any other prison, it's extremely easy to get on someone's "hit list", and once you do you can expect a retaliation. it didnt all happen in the classroom though. for example, a youngster would take up a teacher's time while an older kid needs help on a serious problem. that older kid gets frustrated, so later that day he passively-agressively instigates an altrication with the younger one. staff, dont tell me you've never seen this happen.
sure, it may work with schools like freinds, but freinds is the exact opposite of hidden lake. HLA has a restricted and very stressed environment, very limited resources and [some] very troubled kids. also keep in mind that the freinds are quakers. they have a very different philosophy on life which is essentially the oposite of hidden lake. a freinds school teacher would shudder at the idea of sending a child to hidden lake. and with four teachers.....fuggetaboutit. maybe if they had a teacher and a T.A (like most freinds schools) for every subject and level they'd make it work, but they dont.
yeah sure, i know, hla has no other choice because kids come in at different levels. but that's a different issue, and one that cant be fixed unless the whole hidden lake system is re-designed.
