Outside of a few affluential areas, public school is dismal. I took the most advanced class for literature in my high school, and one of the projects was to decorate a book cover out of a cereal box. This was called "AP Literature" and was supposed to effectively be a collegiate-level class.
...so? There is nothing in that description that is alarming. Sounds like a fun and creative project to show what you know, while giving less-verbal learners a chance to express themselves differently than an essay. I wish I went to your school!
The project wasn't chosen in order to assist less-verbal learners, it's because it was a school in an impoverished area where elementary teachers drank alcohol during work and the building itself hadn't had any renovations since the 1970's. No one gave a shit, and they didn't challenge their students, and many of them ended up with barely grade-school level knowledge by the time they graduated. You do not wish that you went to that school.
In case I wasn't clear in the above - if you went to school in a middle or upper class area, count your lucky stars, and consider the fact that your experience may not be representative of everyone's.
Many public school programs are set up more as 'day care for older kids' than 'a place for kids to learn'. It's highly dependent on what part of a city/county you live in, at least in the US, as to whether you'll have a healthy/positive learning environment in a school.
