Set off from meeting around school (8)
I believe the answer is:
detonate
'set off' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'meeting around school' is the wordplay.
'meeting' becomes 'date' (date is a kind of meeting).
'around' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'school' becomes 'eton' (famous UK public school).
'date' placed around 'eton' is 'DETONATE'.
'from' is the link.
(Other definitions for detonate that I've seen before include "go off with a bang" , "Start 15 [EXPLOSION]" , "Blow up, explode" , "Set off explosive device" , "Trigger" .)