How a laundry room revolutionized a New Jersey high school

A nonprofit organization, the Internationals Network for Public Schools, delivers a first-class education to the children of illegal immigrants, helping to break the cycle of poverty and provide them a path to advance in life.

Two schools in New York and Washington state are breaking the traditional high school mold by combining college preparation with career and technical education. Amadou Diallo writes, "Debating whether kids need hands-on training or academic rigor misses the point."

A two-year curriculum on interpersonal conflict resolution transformed secondary schools in the province of Jawzjan. Violence between students fell by half. Girl’s school attendance increased. Both boys and girls experienced lower rates of depression. The curriculum is part of a larger project by a local NGO to build mediation skills and human rights knowledge in the conflict-affected province.

In several small rural towns in Texas, mental health professionals from Texas Tech are offering telemedicine counseling to make up for a lack of counselors available in local middle and high schools. The Governor's office has now asked the successful school districts to develop a training program for teachers in other Texas districts in order to scale the model.

Now in 10 states and 17 countries, the P-TECH program combines high school with internships and free community college classes. In low-income neighborhoods in Newburgh, New York, P-TECH has helped increase earning and career potential and started to close the skills gap.

At one Boston public school, teachers are updating curricula to provide students with history lessons that contextualize current national debates about immigration policy.

Clarke County School District in Georgia has 21 public schools that all offer free meals to students, regardless of their financial needs. This is facilitated through a federally-funded program, so even though poverty rates are high in the area, local residents are not footing the bill. While there are still some challenges implementing the program, in general it is received well and allows students to focus on their work and well-being instead of being distracted by hunger.

At Capital City Public Charter School, students are graded based not only on academic skills but also social and emotional skills. The Washington D.C. school has a high graduation rate and college enrollment rate.

Seven teen suicides in one county over a two-year span prompted residents whose lives were touched by suicide to form DeFeet, an educational and advocacy group devoted to the message that suicide is preventable. Thanks in part to its trainings, public speakers, support groups, public education campaigns, and advocacy for gun safety, local schools now screen all students for suicide risk starting in middle school. A local health clinic now screens all patients and credits DeFeet, named for its annual 5K memorial walk, with creating "an environment where we are not as afraid to talk about suicide."

Arizona schools are tackling a rising lack of attendance after the pandemic by helping to address the problems keeping students from school instead of immediately suspending them for absences.