Staffing, attendance, behavior: 7 big issues facing schools this year
After surviving two school years “completely veiled in the pandemic,” teacher Kathryn Vaughn says this year is off to a different start. Her stress levels are down. COVID protocols are relaxed. Teachers are feeling hopeful. “It feels a little lighter this year,” said Vaughn, who teaches elementary school art in Tennessee. “It really feels like […]
Kids are at low risk for monkeypox, but schools can take precautions, CDC says
Children and teens are at low risk for contracting monkeypox, but schools can still take steps to prepare for possible exposures or cases, officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday. So far, a handful of the 14,000 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the U.S. have been among kids under 18, a […]
NYC brings camp to the classroom in Summer Rising
Summer Rising, New York City’s massive effort to rebrand summer school as something fun and educational, has a lesson for the regular school year: Children really like outdoor and hands-on activities. One 7-year-old’s favorite thing was a trip to a bouncy house, while another loved having a barbecue. One 10-year-old was excited to learn how […]
America’s new “national teacher shortage” is neither new nor national
The narrative goes as follows. America is suffering from a nationwide teacher shortage. Teachers have been leaving the profession for years, but recent stresses from the pandemic and the culture war have caused the entire profession to hit a tipping point. Educators are leaving in droves. School leaders are using desperate measures to recruit. Some […]
The Harbor School, NYC’s only school accessible by boat, to double in size
New York City is largely a collection of islands, but just one high school is only accessible by boat: Urban Assembly New York Harbor School. The school opened 20 years ago landlocked in Bushwick, and in 2010 moved to Governors Island, a 172-acre teardrop-shaped parcel that’s about an eight-minute ferry ride from Lower Manhattan. Now […]
What mental health warning signs you should look for in students as they return to school
As students return to school, educators will be on standby to spot any signs of physical, mental or emotional stress a child may display when they come back to the classroom. “As an educator, you understand and you know what normal behavior is for your students, so you can recognize when a student is off,” […]
NYC’s summer work program for youth called a success, with 100K jobs filled
When Ariful Anup was looking for a job last summer, he applied for the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program. Like more than half of last summer’s applicants, the 17-year-old didn’t get picked. But this summer, after city officials dramatically expanded the program, his luck changed. New York City already had the nation’s largest youth jobs […]
Restorative justice funding under threat, NYC schools advocates warn
Thanks to billions in federal pandemic relief funding, the city’s education department made plans to dramatically expand restorative justice programming, more than tripling funding over a three-year period to $21.6 million this school year. But dozens of advocacy groups are now raising the alarm that much of that funding is “at risk” — including a […]
