Blog

By Kara Harris, Bloomberg CityLab, August 24, 2020 When students in Minneapolis, Denver and Oakland eventually return to their classrooms, one group will be notably missing from school grounds: the police. After the killing of George Floyd and the resulting “defund the police” movement to divert resources to other types of community services, the Minneapolis School District was the first of several in the U.S. to end its relationship with the local police department. On June 2, the school...

In the United States, according to the National Center for Education Statistics , last year there were 56.6 million students attending K–12 schools, of whom 5.8 million are enrolled in private schools and 50.8 million attend public schools. The nation’s 50.8 million public school students are a portrait of an emerging majority people-of-color America: 23.7 million (46.6 percent) are white, 13.9 million (27.4 percent) are Latinx, 7.7 million (15.2 percent) are Black, 2.9 million (5.7 percent)...

It is happening. The grand experiment of full school distance learning is on for teachers and families of California. Educators have been asked to source some sort of magic to heal the disease of a broken educational system as it crumbles under the pressures of inconsistent and insufficient funding, tremendous variance in school community capacity for distance learning, and countless organizational structures being taxed to their limits. The pandemic continues, job losses increase, and fires...

From Housing Matters, Urban Institute, August 12, 2020 What happens in our neighborhoods is reflected in our schools. Inequality in our neighborhoods translates to inequality in our schools. And discrimination that has a hand in shaping our neighborhoods, has a hand in shaping our schools. About 70 percent of K–12 students attend an assigned school . If housing near higher-performing public schools is unaffordable, then those schools are also out of reach. Housing vouchers help nearly 2.2...

Robin is a brilliant, passionate, and vocal school nurse with almost two decades of experience as a New Jersey school nurse in the Camden City School District. She is the Legislative Co-Chair for the New Jersey State School Nurses Association and she joined us last week for A Better Normal community discussion about back-to-school (or not) plans families are facing this school year. Robin serves as faculty in the School Nurse Certificate Program at Rutgers University-Camden School of Nursing...

I am SO excited for our next episode, and you should be too! Join us Thursday 8/20 as we welcome our speical guests Judee Fernandez and Michelle Kurta from the Meaning Makers Collective . We will discuss what it takes to create cultures of care and connection in our schools, how to develop a system that supports collective care for staff and prioritizes the wellbeing of adults in school settings. It is gonna be great! Weekly themes include: How do we create physical and psychological safety,...

By Clare Ryan and Berry Streets, The Sector, June 23, 2020 Children who have experienced trauma may find it more difficult to regulate their emotions and behaviours than other children. Understanding the impact trauma can have on brain development can help inform practical responses to these children’s needs. This short article describes how practitioners can use strategies that help calm children’s bodies in order to help calm their minds and emotions – specifically, the...

By Deborah Temkin, Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy, July 14, 2020 In response to growing concerns about children’s mental and physical health, state policymakers have enacted laws to require schools to take an active role in supporting their students’ wellbeing – from requiring a minimum amount of time dedicated to physical activity, to requiring access to clean, potable water, to providing access to mental and physical health services, to implementing a range of preventative...

The Jesse Lewis Choose Love Movement ™ launched a free social-emotional wellness program to support educators and students as they navigate the start of the 2020/21 school year. This special reentry unit, “Choosing Love in Our Brave New World,” is designed to help transition students back to class or to support them during distance learning. The Choose Love Movement honors six-year-old Jesse Lewis who was killed in the Sandy Hook, CT elementary school tragedy. “Choosing Love in Our Brave New...

If you missed The League of Extraordinary People's first Town Hall, or would like to watch it again, it is available here ! Health and Wellness Town Hall: Adverse Childhood Experiences 101 Class How ACEs Impact the Black, Brown, Indigenous, and other Communities of Color This event will be led by Alfred White. Alfred is the founder of The League of Extraordinary People. After nearly 40 years experiencing homelessness, Alfred swallowed a 1/4 ounce of crack cocaine in 2004 and nearly died. He...

By Mallory Warner-Richter and Christina M. Lloyd, Child Trends, August 6, 2020 Coping with the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging for all families, especially those caring for young children with disabilities. Of the 24 million children under age 6 in the United States, about 5 percent (1.2 million) have a diagnosed disability, which qualifies them for early intervention or special education services through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). 1 IDEA categorizes 13...

By Carolyn Jones, EdSource, August 6, 2020 When Amistad continuation high school closed its campus in March due to the pandemic, the staff went into overdrive to stay in touch with students. They called all 205. If a student’s phone was disconnected, they went to the student’s house. If no one answered, they asked neighbors. “The effort was relentless,” said David Gustafson, principal of the public school in Indio, near Palm Springs, that serves students who’ve been expelled or are at risk...