For weeks I had been looking forward to the vegan potluck and Maypole dance at my daughter's new school. Parents had been instructed to bring vegan finger food, beverages to share and flowers from the ...

SPRINGTIME SCHOOL DAY: Was the day that you got out of class, just a few weeks ahead of summer vacation, to learn the maypole dance, just about the most exciting event of your elementary school life?

While I had vaguely heard of the Maypole dance over the years, the first one I experienced in person involved schoolchildren in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. My son had enrolled as a fifth grader in ...