Malachi Riddick, now 18 years old, began playing poker with Mr. Engler in middle school as a way to overcome shyness during their counseling sessions, he recalled.

WSJ: School Club's Success Cheers Poker's 'Mind Sport' Champions

At last they reached the downstairs lobby, crossed it, and, leaning together, made their way outside, stared at by two middle-school kids.

NEWYORKER: Brooklyn Circle

"Cauldwell Street is one of the busiest parts of Bedford and we have got to be absolutely sure that no child is put at risk by having a school right in the middle of a busy one-way system, " he said.

BBC: Bedford Free School opens despite planning refusal

"For all young people to be able to reach their full potential, we need to rid ourselves of this idea that an education system familiar to those who attended school towards the middle of the last century is the only way forward, " she said.

BBC: GCSE results: Gender gap widens in record-breaking year

He saw in the Alpha course a way to draw in the young middle classes whose only exposure to the Gospel came at school and smart weddings.

ECONOMIST: The Church of England