I started this in response to
this thread about college students living in a retirement home.
That got me thinking about a news story I saw a few years ago. I can't find anything about it, but the specifics are really irrelevant.
One of the best ideas I've ever heard involved an elementary school, K-4th grade or so I remember, that was built intertwined with a retirement home.
That is fucking awesome. The classrooms have walls that don't quite reach the ceiling, and there are some rooms for less active residents to stay in nearby. They can listen to the sounds the kids make, even if they are too tired to hang out with the kids.
The elderly interact with the kids, if they feel up to it, all day. They help read stories, they help with homework, they eat with the kids, and they help out on the playground, ad infinitum. I do remember that the activity and interaction makes for healthier seniors.
The kids get to deal with the elderly in a much more exciting way than most of us ever will. They learn that because someone is old, does not mean they are used up.
The way I see it, the student to teacher ratio at a place like that is damn near 2:1.
What would you think if your kids went to a school like that?