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No Need to Tuck it In

Heavy, wool plaid is what most people think of first when they hear the words "school uniform." But at Newport Elementary School in Newport Beach, California, the uniform is a tad less traditional:

Heavy, wool plaid is what most people think of first when they hear the words "school uniform." But at Newport Elementary School in Newport Beach, California, the uniform is a tad less traditional: Hawaiian shirts and skirts in a blue or red hibiscus pattern.

Several years ago, Denise Knutsen, the school principal, noticed dress-code matters were taking up time in classrooms as teachers dealt with inappropriate clothing. Girls were wearing short shorts and spaghetti-strap shirts and boys were wearing flip-flops and large sloppy T-shirts to the beachfront school.

Knutsen thought a uniform approach could address these and other behavioral issues. She decided that the way to get students to buy into the idea, since public schools in California can't make uniforms mandatory, was to offer something fun. "What is unique to us?" she asks. "In the beach area we live in, it's the Hawaiian shirt." First crafted in silk in 1931 in Honolulu, they are also known as "Aloha" shirts.

Newport's version is cotton, washable and sports the words, "Newport El, Best on the Beach." Roughly 70 percent of the students wear the uniform. About 20 other California schools have copied the idea.

Newport plans to add a new pattern next year, maybe something with little surfboards. Knutsen hopes other school districts will be equally creative: Schools in Texas could do denim. Colorado could do fleece. The Northeast could do hockey jerseys. "It doesn't matter where you live," she says. "Every school that chooses to do this has a unique style or something they're known for."

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