Shortly after a teacher inadvertently gave almond biscotti to a student allergic to dairy and nuts, Deerfield Public Schools Superintendent Michael Lubelfeld convened the first of several meetings for parents of students with allergies. The goal: Review current policies and identify ways to improve practices to keep students with allergies safe and to protect those […]
It's never too early to start thinking about college and careers. And that's why kindergarteners at Kankakee School District in Illinois are already on the right path. Superintendent Genevra Walters, and her two adult children, attended the suburban district 60 miles south of Chicago, while her young son is currently enrolled. In May 2014, when […]
E-Rate funds kept at least one district connected to the internet through testing—and opened the door for a 1-to-1 initiative rolling out this fall. The Lafayette Parish School System in Louisiana used to restrict internet access, only granting certain streaming websites to teachers by request. For example, music teachers would be the only ones with […]
Equity in K12 education doesn't mean the same thing as equality. In fact, achieving true equity often requires providing lower-income schools and students with more resources than are given others in the same district, says Joel Boyd, superintendent of Santa Fe Public Schools in New Mexico. "Fair student funding means some students are funded at […]
Blended learning can support a more personalized approach to education. You've no doubt heard of the teaching approach in which students spend part of the day learning online at their own pace and part of the day receiving instruction from a classroom teacher. But there are still a number of misconceptions about what blended learning […]
Students will likely choose healthier meals if provided with more comfortable places to eat. Modern lighting and food-court style designs can draw students to dining areas while school gardens can provide learning experiences and also supply cafeterias with fresh, less expensive produce. Students will likely choose healthier meals if provided with more comfortable places to […]
At age 14, David Vroonland says he knew he would serve young people. An atypical childhood brought him to that point. His mother, who was in foster care, was about 16 when she gave birth in Iowa. He was raised away from her in foster care in poverty, but in a loving family. And then […]
At Banneker High School in College Park, Georgia, dedicating a wing of six classrooms, an office and a conference room to just 139 ninth graders and their six teachers is an exercise in innovation. The wing is the foundation of a Junior Achievement (JA) pilot program called JA Magnet Business Academy, JA-MBA. Junior Achievement is […]
No matter how cutting-edge the technology or advanced the curriculum, students have a hard time mastering essays and equations if they're hungry, traumatized or feeling marginalized by a textbook's inaccurate portrayal of their ethnic group. "If you came to work and hadn't eaten for a day or two, you wouldn't be prepared to work" says […]
The push toward digital learning in Meriden Public Schools in Connecticut started about six years ago with a simple premise: Learning doesn't stop when school ends. Superintendent Mark D. Benigni understood that advancing off-campus education would require a strong and engaging digital reading program. Soon he knew he had a winner with myON, which provides […]
