Home schooling is out of the question for superheroes, and they'd have Rick Santorum's residency problems if they went the online virtual-learning route. No, the price of privately educating their children is simply "Sky High," Walt Disney Pictures' new frothy, family-friendly live-action flick.

	Sam Emerson Kelly Preston and Kurt Russell play superheroes and parents who send their son to "Sky High." Click photo for larger image. "Sky High" Rating: PG for action violence and mild language. Starring: Michael Angarano, Kurt Russell, Kelly Preston Director: Mike Mitchell "Sky High" Web site

The name of the movie is the name of the school -- an airborne academy for the excessively gifted offspring of wonder-parents like Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston. By day, they are real-estate agents Steve and Josie Stronghold. By late afternoon and evening, they're The Commander (he lifts buildings) and Jetstream (she flies), a super-duo routinely rescuing their community from bin Stompin or bin Robbin -- the evil-doers du jour.

Pity the Strongholds' son Will (Michael Angarano), a nice normal kid with a tough abnormal act to follow. His folks are distinguished alumni of Sky High, where the first item of business is to separate incoming freshmen into "heroes" or "hero support," depending on how impressive their special powers are. If you have spectacular strength or miraculous mobility, Coach Boomer (Bruce Campbell) puts you in the heroic group. If all you can do is glow in the dark or turn yourself into a guinea pig, you're in "hero support" (the euphemism for "sidekicks").

Will and his kinder, gentler friends are relegated to the latter category. Assorted bullies and prom queens are in the former, more prestigious group. Intramural rivalries and puppy-love affairs abound, as do the special effects that showcase them.

Actually, Will is lucky to be there at all: He demonstrated performance anxiety instead of super skills in his entrance test, and nobody -- including himself -- knows what his powers might be. He certainly lacks the power to resist Gwen (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), a tempting "technopath" with a secret.

It's a likable cast and story, neither of which takes itself too seriously. Angarano and the girls vying for him avoid the inherent cliches. Most interesting of the newcomers is hunky young Steven Strait (playing a human flamethrower), who has the uncanny look and alienation of a young Brando.

Russell's tongue-in-cheek heroic performance is a good in-joke, referencing his own genesis as a Disney child star in 1966, and so is the comic-iconic cameo appearance of Lynda Carter (TV's "Wonder Woman") as Sky High's aptly named headmistress, Principal Powers. Look for a funny turn by Cloris Leachman as the school nurse, whose occupational special power is -- what else? -- X-ray vision.

The effects are effective during a nifty aero-bus ride to the school (which looks like Lincoln Center on an asteroid) but don't hit their stride until the fiery finale -- a big burst of climactic magic and gadgetry -- that turns this pleasantly tame yarn into a properly nasty war of adolescent worlds.