A new solution to the student housing crisis: retiree roommates?

Schools across the country are trying a different approach to teaching safely during the pandemic: outdoors teaching. This article provides four examples of schools implementing this method and how they did it, from the Cape Cod to Wisconsin.

At Arizona State, retirees pay a fee to live on campus, take classes, and be a part of the college community. This setup offers a unique opportunity for intergenerational mixing and mentoring and a new revenue stream for institutions with declining enrollment.

Thirty-six percent of university and 46 percent of community college students in the United States are housing insecure. From providing monthly rent subsidies to allowing students living in their cars to park on campus to matching community college students with empty dorm rooms at nearby schools, colleges across the country are working with nonprofits and housing authorities to develop creative solutions.

More than 160 children from near the Singhu border in northern India attend Sanjhi Sathh, a makeshift school run by farmers. The school is open on weekdays from 11:30am to 2pm, and helps children keep up with their school lessons by providing a safe space for them to study, as well as actual lessons on topics like English, Hindi, math, science, and art classes.

In Michigan, the lack of a GED or high school diploma is often what is standing between motivated workers and good jobs. A partnership between Battle Creek Public Schools, community organizations, and local employers is working to address common barriers, such as transportation, that prevent people from obtaining GEDs.

Although many students in New Mexico enter kindergarten speaking two languages, a lack of bilingual and dual language classrooms means students often have trouble maintaining their Spanish or that English Language Learners don't receive appropriate instruction. New Mexico State University and Las Cruces Public Schools are working to break this cycle and recruit and train more bilingual teachers by offering degree programs and incentives and extra resources to teachers who choose this path.

A community organization in Indiana called Cultivate "rescues" food from local caterers, hospitals, casinos, and businesses to then be packaged into take-home meals for students at Woodland Elementary School that come from food-insecure homes. Cultivate is in its second year of existence, has three staff and 400 volunteers, and hopes to expand beyond their pilot program to reach all 21 schools in the district.

As higher education institutions struggle to attract students wiling to pay the exorbitant cost to attend, one subset of schools has had a particularly challenging past few decades -- alternative schools. But some are surviving, by evolving their focus, merging with other schools, and getting creative financially to reduce costs for students.

Through JumpStart, a dual enrollment program in Maryland, students can graduate with not only a high school degree but also the credits equivalent to an associates. Over 700 students in Howard County participate in the partnership between several local high schools and the community college. "On its face, it’s an everybody-wins strategy," a former U.S. education secretary noted. But critics wonder if course quality and rigor are sacrificed in the process.

Virginia and New York are taking a public health approach to mental health care education - both states now require schools to incorporate related curricula in the classroom and to provide teachers with the appropriate training to deliver on this mandate. John Richter of New York's Mental Health Association explains, "I don't want teachers to think of it like drawing up a whole new curriculum. You can incorporate wellness in almost every subject."