The virtue of being dull

摘要

A fresh bunch of flowers, a teddy bear and an empty Chivas Regal bottle—in memory of a young murder victimlie on the street outside the dc Preparatory Academy. This patch of northeast Washington, DC, is not an easy place to live, let alone run a school. Yet the school itself is an oasis of order. Blue-uniformed nine-year-olds look visitors straight in the eye and proffer handshakes. In one class, a sixth-grader called Prince Taylor solves a ticklish maths problem on the overhead projector. His teacher, Julie O'Malley, asks him to explain how he did it. He starts, but she cuts him off because a couple of his classmates are not looking at him. "Remember the rule," says Ms O'Malley. All eyes focus on Prince, who resumes his explanation.