Irv Hipschman, director of new business development for SleepQuest Inc., a health-care provider in Redwood City, Calif., doesn't have that problem. Vacation times are decided by parents, rather than being dictated by a rigid and antiquated school calendar. And that's not the only unusual flexibility offered by the non-profit, independent school, which goes up to the 8th grade and is known for its high academic standards. They also take turns driving to and from school at times their own schedules permit. We don't worry that they're missing a whole heck of a lot because they're not.
Instruction is individualized, so they just pick up where they left off.
The executive, who was a teacher for five years, says his children go to school more days than they did when they were in public school. It has one paid administrator, director Margaret Ricks. Hipschman and Burnett are typical of the working families the school is designed to support. Its philosophy makes so much sense that I wonder why there aren't more like it. Even Fred Hess, an expert on the subject, hasn't heard of other schools like Children's International.