Darryl George, a 17-year-old student at Barbers Hill High School in Mont Belvieu, Texas, has been serving an in-school suspension since Aug. 31 after school officials said his dreadlocks violated the district's dress and grooming code.

Elements like soft and flexible seating can transform a media center into a space that engages the whole school community.

Chris Saxon, IT director at the Cherokee County School District in Georgia, and his team created an IT "call center" for families dedicated for providing troubleshooting assistance for their child's devices and other issues. "For our folks in IT, it's easy to see how they're being helpful when they're in their classroom fixing their panel, printer or laptop," he says. "But they don't understand that when things are going wrong, a lot of folks are working behind the scenes to make it right."