Our Schools in the News

It's been a busy week for the Kobe Shinbum (yes, the same paper that reported on the fire following our charity event last week)... well, at least for whomever covers the education beat in our area.

So there was a bit of an uproar this morning. I got a somewhat surprising text from a shocked friend this morning who walked into work (at a local high school) to discover a little too much energy in the staff room for such an early hour. It seems her school (quite famous in the area for it's strict discipline and high performance rates, actually) is enshrouded in scandal after a teacher was caught tampering with grades (for sports stars, nonetheless). The school had to lock their gates to keep the media out in the morning, but it was a topic of conversation throughout the other area high schools today as it hit the papers this morning. I overheard my coworkers gossiping, but I couldn't make out everything they said... it's the buzz.

Another friend's school had another scandel this morning, which I am sure will also hit the paper tomorrow. It seems someone threw bricks through many of the schools windows, including the front door. There was suspician it was a middle school student (since the event followed Open High School), but to be honest, my friend had a really good point in saying those bricks were probably a bit too big for any little middleschooler to lift. I would suspect the students or maybe a trouble-maker from the area... but that's just me.

We had a similar incident a few weeks ago at my school as well when someone threw bricks through two windows. It came up at a few staff meetings, but I don't think they ever discovered who it was.

For such a "safe" country, people sure are dramatic when the choose to show agression. Let's just hope this is the end of the dark clouds hovering over our schools this week...

Update (Friday): We're up to one more school (five windows broken) and a lot more gossip about the grading scandel. I hope this gets sorted out soon...