A morning at the AltSchool, an education startup that Silicon Valley is crazy about

Teachers gather their students and read the daily schedule aloud. During one meeting, a young girl raised her hand to tell the class she was going on vacation. When school ends around 3 p.m., there's also a closing meeting.

Teachers also sing and tell students to use their "inside private voices." And some teachers like to use the word "friends" instead of "girls and boys" to avoid bringing up gender.