Published: March 1, 1992

All In The Family

This is the first of two articles on schools that have taken the ideas of author and education reformer Theodore Sizer and put them into practice.

On a snowy day in December, a new student arrives at Boston's Fenway Middle College High School just as an all-school assembly is about to begin. Another student introduces the tall youth to assistant director Linda Nathan, who is standing near them in the auditorium. She shakes his hand. The handshake is a quick act, easy to miss, and yet there is something remarkable about it: It is the same kind of handshake Nathan would give an adult.

More commonly, a minority inner-city teenager would be greeted coolly, if not with automatic suspicion. But Nathan's greeting extends matter-of-fact respect. Fleeting expressions cross their faces before the two turn away. Hers seems to say: "I'm glad he showed up.'' His: "I just...