Now the day begins to vary for each grade and class, with different schedules for what comes next. Still, there are common features for students and teachers. Every student has two 45-minute classes with a specialist each day. Today, it's world language and music; tomorrow, it's art and physical education (PE); and so on through the week.

In many schools the arts get scant attention, but not in an Edison school. All students learn Spanish beginning in kindergarten. All are helped to develop sports fundamentals and the good-health habit of physical activity with PE classes every other day. Peek inside a classroom in even the Primary Academy and you'll see children studying French Impressionist painters or classical composers-or both in an integrated lesson. Specialist teachers have common planning times. They work to connect their curriculums and integrate instruction with core subjects, too. So when fifth graders study Native American cultures in social studies, they explore Native American arts and music with their specialist teachers.

Students have also been known to whistle distinctly Edison tunes, thanks to composer-in-residence Carmino Ravosa. He works with individual Edison schools on developing songs that integrate local history, for example, as well as composing songs with a national flavor, such as one celebrating "Our Amazing Century"-the 20th century.