Patricia Hawke is a staff writer for Schools K-12, providing free, in-depth reports on all U.S. public and private K-12 schools. For more information please visit Arizona Public Schools.
In Arizona, elementary schools in the Flagstaff District are sending home notices to children’s parents that their kids are overweight They weigh and measure every student and if the student is heavy for their height, underweight, or moderately close to one of these extremes they get a notice sent home to their parents telling them what needs to change
School rankings based only on the results of standardized tests don't give students, teachers, administrators, or parents the whole story about how well the school in question is meeting the needs of their students We all want to make sure that students are performing well
Sacramento Schools are making it easier for their students to succeed by creating the Navigators Mentor Program in their schools This program enhances the resiliency of students and helps them develop valuable assets needed to be successful adults by providing them with mentors who encourage and empower students to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally as they navigate through their turbulent middle school years
Teachers at Minneapolis schools recently voted on a new contract that contained a provision that seniority alone would not determine teacher assignments or transfers Principals can and should have a say over staffing decisions at their schools
Determining school rankings based on college preparation tests
Newsweek magazine bases its renowned high school rankings test on the number of students who participate in college admissions tests, taking that as the measure of a school's success This controversial approach to school rankings has both its admirers and its critics
Tampa schools have long recognized that students attending middle schools tend to have more discipline problems than those in primary or high schools When an incident occurs in Tampa schools, the usual policy is to have the individual teacher deal with it
After a number of years of being put on the back burner, students at California schools will now have arts education included in their curriculum Drama, music, and visual arts were once dismissed as being mere fluff, but now they are considered a tool to helping improve overall student performance
Fairfax, VA Schools understand that student achievement is the most important thing in the development of a child's life That's why they have created achievement goals for all of their students
For the past 100 years or so, teachers have traditionally been female Before that, women could only teach school until they married; it was considered unseemly for women to continue working after marriage