High school graduation rates dipped in at least 20 states after the first full school year disrupted by the pandemic, suggesting the coronavirus may have ended nearly two decades of nationwide progress toward getting more students diplomas. The drops came despite at least some states and educators loosening standards to help struggling students. The results, according to data obtained from 26 states and analyzed by Chalkbeat, are the latest concerning trend in American education, which…
Check out our list of fun-filled April vacation events and activities happening around Boston! Kids Walking Tours in Salem & Boston When: Sunday, April 17, 2022 – Saturday, April 23, 2022 Where: Salem, MA and Boston, MA Age: kids Cost: starting at $12 Boston and Salem’s “must do” walking tours for visiting families, our tours will captivate and inspire guests of all ages. Local educators with a passion for history and a love for sharing…
Families across the world have been troubled by the news and images from Russia’s invasion and the war in Ukraine. When our children turn to us to help them understand scary news, we might feel afraid of saying too much—or not enough—and so avoid a conversation that could be a powerful way to help children learn about themselves and the world. Here’s what a handful of child development experts say about what parents, teachers, and…
All eight Ivy League colleges have gone test optional for the high school class of 2023, choosing to suspend the requirement for SAT and ACT scores and joining hundreds of other universities, including Stanford, who have also agreed to let students decide whether they want to submit test scores with their application. “Test Optional” means a student can choose NOT to submit a test score for any reason. Instead of the scores, test-optional schools say…
Recent world events have been unsettling and heartbreaking, especially for refugee and immigrant families. At the start of the year, 1,500 Afghani refugees arrived in Massachusetts for relocation. The invasion of Ukraine resulted in more than 2 million refugees fleeing the country in the past weeks. Currently, there are also 20k Ukrainian families living in Massachusetts, and research indicates that the rates of PTSD (50-90%) and major depressive disorder (6-40%) in refugee children and adolescents…
The Massachusetts school mask mandate officially ended Monday, but some districts, including in the state’s largest cities of Boston, Worcester and Springfield, have decided to keep indoor mask mandates for students and staff in place for the time being. Governor Charlie Baker and state Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley announced early in February that they were lifting the statewide indoor mask mandate effective Feb. 28, but individual school districts could decide on their own masking requirements.…
Nearly every holiday we celebrate starts with a story. That story gets told throughout the years until it becomes legend, at which point people decide that the legend is worthy of celebration. Somewhere on the way to legendary status, the original story often gets embellished to the point where it becomes difficult to separate truth from legend. Such is the case with the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick. March 17 is here, and it…
When Millis Public Schools opened its doors for the start of the 2021-22 school year, teachers and staff were looking forward to seeing their students back in real classrooms. “We were so excited that everyone was coming back to begin the school year,” says Bob Mullaney, the superintendent of the suburban Boston school district. But the transition has been more fraught than anticipated due to students’ social and mental health needs. From the beginning, they’ve…
Graphic novels take the text of a story and pair it with corresponding imagery, usually in the form of a comic strip or sequential art. As graphic novel authors have ventured outside of superhero narratives and improved at representing more diverse characters, graphic novel sales have soared. What’s fueling the recent rise in graphic novel popularity? Other than greater representation, many educators are finding that graphic novels are useful resources for struggling readers or students…
Everyone has a story to tell, and everyone has their own unique writing voice. Storytelling is sometimes what excites students the most; it’s an invitation for them to read, observe, dissect, understand, feel, and write. Through writing stories, we learn about our past, current, and future selves. We get an intimate glimpse of our joy, loneliness, sacrifice, anxiety, heartbreak, anger, fear, guilt, surprise, and all the nuanced emotions that make us human. Storytelling is also…
