Giving Girls a Second Chance at Education

Cherokee Point Elementary School in San Diego became a trauma-informed school in 2015, and since then suspensions have fallen to zero (and remained that way since) and they no longer need a campus police officer. The school's approach includes revised disciplinary practices, social-emotional instruction, free breakfast, school-wide training about trauma, strong parental engagement, and intensive individual support. They even partner with community organizations that all them to create and offer a wider variety of services than the school could on its own.

City Cuts is a special barbershop in Kutztown, PA that, in addition to being a barbershop, is simultaneously running an internationally-acclaimed literacy program for kids. Barber Jon Escueta gives young clients $3 to read a book aloud to him during their haircut for a program he calls Books for Kids, which boosts confidence in public speaking and literacy. When a video of a client reading to a City Cuts barber went viral, Books for Kids starting receiving hundreds of donations of money and books from around the world, and the kids themselves love and respect the program as well.

Students at Provine High School will soon be able to open up accounts with Hope Credit Union, right in their own hallway. The partnership is helping students realize that having a relationship with a financial institution can create a more stable financial future, breaking the cycle of poverty.

Educational nonprofit OneGoal has proven that its model of education helps provide low-income students in Chicago and Houston with the tools needed to pursue a college degree. Now, the nonprofit hopes to improve the college graduation rate in New York City by assisting high school students in understanding the basic techniques to achieve success.

To help address falling enrollment and families’ lack of child care, Brooklyn Charter School extended the school day to twelve hours, providing before- and after-school activities and meals. So far, 80 students have signed up for the expanded hours and the school’s enrollment has rebounded from pandemic lows.

Schools in Mesa, Arizona, are using the team teaching model to boost teacher morale and fill gaps in staff. The model allows teachers to work together to teach a large group of students in one big classroom rotating between one-on-one instruction, small groups, and large-group lectures.

Schools in the Richardson Independent School District of Texas are updating the methods and measurements they've used to identify gifted students. One way is by testing all second and sixth graders in the district, which helps diminish implicit bias coming from teachers who may discriminate against certain students. Students' scores are also being judged differently by comparing them against others from similar backgrounds, from within their own school, and nationally.

The Cherry Creek School district is using apprenticeships to create a more racially diverse pipeline of K-12 educators in Colorado. High school juniors and seniors are paid to participate in the apprenticeship, and are able to earn college credit as well. This is one of the ways the district is working on having its workforce reflect its student bodies more accurately. Currently 85% of teachers are white, and half of its student body is kids of color. Now in its second year, the program has grown from an initial cohort of 12 youth apprentices to 26,

The non-profit, Sandy Hook Promise, equips schools and youth with knowledge and tools to prevent gun violence. Founded after the Newtown shooting, the organization couldn’t make headway through policy and legislature, so they turned to people. The founders spent time analyzing how social change happens and took a strategic, generational approach to shifting the culture of gun violence. With much success, they now face the challenge of scaling to a national level.

Schools in Denver's suburbs are reducing out-of-school suspensions by training teachers to use restorative justice practices and teach students social-emotional skills. Now, a new bill proposes limiting out-of-school suspensions for students statewide.