Eagle Rock High School

Spurred in part by Eagle Rock High School students and parents, Los Angeles school board member Julie Korenstein has introduced a measure to automatically expel students who carry guns to school or seriously injure others, a milder version of a proposal that the board has rejected.

An Eagle Rock High School student was stabbed as he stood outside the campus Friday, just hours after more than 150 classmates walked out of their classes to protest what they said was increasing campus violence and a weak school district policy for disciplining students who carry weapons. Students who witnessed the attack, which occurred shortly after classes ended at 3 p.m.

For 19 years, Eagle Rock High School has bounced to the beat of be-bop, do-wop and swing. The Eagle Rock High School Jazz Band regularly ranked in the top five nationwide. Its students played in the prestigious Monterey Jazz Festival All-Star Band and a number became professional musicians. But the rhythm may slow June 19 when John T. Rinaldo, the man who made all this possible, retires. The school must find a qualified jazz teacher to replace him. So far, it has had no luck.

The students in Beverly Glassford's fifth- and sixth-grade class gathered in small groups last week to discuss advertising techniques used to hustle products to unwary customers. The students clearly had no trouble spotting the gimmicks. For example, one student suggested to the class that an ad for a carpet "smart enough to pass a school test" made no literal sense. "How can a carpet be smart?" she asked.