3 lessons from how schools responded to the 1918 pandemic worth heeding today

Arts education programs in the United States are subjected to cutting for maintaining tight school budgets. Technology sectors in Seattle seek professionals who have been trained in problem solving skills and innovative idea generation. In response, Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture collaborate to promote equity in students’ access to the arts.

Journalist Marcella Bombardieri calls community college "one of America's largest and most important anti-poverty programs." The president of Amarillo College in Texas is testing just how far community colleges can go to fight systemic issues - day care, social workers, and emergency funds for students' daily expenses are part of his plan. Other administrators are looking on at the dramatic experiment with mixed views and takeaways.

For the past four years, several rural Colorado school districts have experimented with alternative forms of evaluation that don't rely solely on the results of educational testing. Now, a proposed bill, with wide support, would provide financial and logistical support to these pilots.

Students in the Mineola school district had a head start when schools around the country switched to online classes as a result of the coronavirus? Since 2017, students as young as kindergarteners have been learning to code, while older students have learned to take advantage of opportunities like a fabrication lab to design, produce and sell what they develop, among other offerings. But the challenges educators and administrators face are balancing how much tech to implement in the classroom, and how much is too much.

The Romani Education Fund in Slovakia is helping children from the Roma community, which has a history of social and economic disadvantages as well as being subject to ethnic discrimination, overcome challenges to finish high school and pursue higher education. The REF works by providing qualifying students with a stipend to pay for educational supplies, as well as providing school guidance and personal mentorship to help both students and parents overcome the social hurdles that impede the student's desire or ability to fulfill their potential.

Tennessee Reconnect, which started as a small-scale "mentorship and financial support program", has now been adopted and expanded throughout the state as a way to help adults start or continue higher education. Now in its second year, the program matches applicants with "navigators," adult mentors who understand the specific student's financial and social challenges and helps them navigate the process every step of the way. The program also provides funding to students to pay for coursework and is now looking to expand its operations to jails and prisons.

Most states in the U.S. are struggling to effectively and efficiently distribute the COVID-19 vaccine, while "West Virginia became the first state to finish round one of the two-dose vaccine series in nursing homes." The key to the state's success included preemptively preparing a vaccination dissemination plan and partnering with independent and chain pharmacies.

Depuis le début de la crise sanitaire, des centaines de milliers d'enfants auraient été « perdus » par leurs enseignants, d’après le ministre de l’Éducation. Malgré le manque d’équipements informatiques ou les difficultés des élèves à travailler à la maison, des professeurs, associations et bénévoles sont en partie parvenus à maintenir le lien.

Wichita secured $850,376 of federal grant money through the CARES Act, which it is distributing to homeless shelters and other organizations that work with people experiencing homelessness to slow the spread of COVID-19. Local providers connect with each other to share their best practices for stopping the virus, including taking temperatures, mandatory hand-washing, and mask wearing, and making sure that beds meet social distancing guidelines. None of their clients in homeless shelters have tested positive so far.

With an influx of COVID relief money, the Russellville school district began hiring and certifying more local, Spanish-speaking staff to help teach English language learners. Districtwide, the percentage of students who met their language proficiency goals increased from 46% in 2019 to 61% in 2022.