Our school is trying a new "school within a school" design. There are a lot of benefits to it, as I've discovered with my sophomores, because the sophomore teachers in House B have all the same kids, so we're able to compare notes. It's nice to hear that TJ isn't just obnoxious in my class, or what works with Chris, or that I'm not the only one worried about Rebecca. But, the downside of the small school design is that every House needs a certain number of math, science, English, and social studies teachers, which cuts down on the number of class periods when we're able to teach electives. As a result, we don't have many electives. So, this afternoon when kids from our rival high school's Auto Shop class (I live in the rival school zone) came knocking on doors, trying to raise the money to buy the project car for their class, I gladly gave them $5. Not a huge donation, but better than nothing, and I'm just glad that they get to have electives. I firmly believe that electives are where you get to practice your skills from the core classes in a practical setting, as well as being something kids enjoy, which gives them a reason to come to school. So, I think cutting the electives is a mistake. But, I'm not the boss.