RE: Creatures / Daily Freewrite
I think the idea of what a 'school' should do has certainly changed over time. My dad used to rant (really, really loudly) that school's should teach people to think, but only as long as it taught what he agreed should be taught. My mother used to say that school should simply teach "the three R's: reading, writing, and 'rithmetic (arithmetic)". She thought it was funny. She didn't much care when I pointed out that 'writing' started with a 'W' and "'rithmetic" isn't even a word, so obviously school didn't teach her much at all. :)
Personally, I tend to think that the primary purpose of school is to help guide children to be able to function in society by teaching them how to think and giving them enough exposure to different materials that they become well-rounded people. Unsurprisingly, my own children disagree with me. :)