Knitting, cheerleading, fishing: This is what a cellphone ban looks like in one school district

Smart School Councils makes it easier for students to be involved in school governance while also learning important civic skills, with a digital platform that allows them to run weekly meetings, discuss topics important to them, and create "action teams" to help implement improvements. The program is being used in 75 schools, and nearly 90 percent of students in participating schools say they feel listened to, as compared to 36 percent before the platform was introduced.

A Ukrainian community transformed a rural high school biology classroom into a fully-equipped research lab with field stations and youth training programs, enabling students to conduct real scientific experiments and inspiring career choices in environmental fields. The broader community's relationship with nature has also shifted from resource extraction to ecosystem stewardship.

Mat-Su Central is a hybrid homeschool that provides a flexible, personalized learning environment for both students and their families. Each student receives an individual learning plan that takes the student’s strengths and weaknesses into account, while still ensuring they’re meeting course requirements for graduation. As a result of the pandemic and increased rates of bullying and anxiety among students, enrollment in this hybrid homeschool option has quadrupled over the past 20 years.

Chicago’s Sustainable Community Schools initiative provides additional funding to high-poverty campuses to support after-school and summer programs, improve parent and student engagement, and provide better access to social support. National studies show that the model can help improve attendance, academic performance, and students’ sense of belonging, though some Chicago schools have struggled to work effectively with nonprofit partners.

The Restorative Suspension Center provides a space for students facing suspension to work with staff to change their behavior. The Center provides mentoring and group sessions with their peers and also teaches coping skills to prevent those bad behaviors. Since starting the program, the Lynchburg City School District has seen an 86% decrease in discipline referrals.

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.

U-46, Chicago's second-largest school district faced a legal suit in 2005 for discrimination of Hispanic students in its gifted programs and is now setting an example for how programs can be upended for good. By 2018 U-46's gifted program consisted of 48% Hispanic students, a better representation of a 57% Hispanic district. The changes implemented by the district included addressing systemic issues by not relying on teacher recommendations and instead testing all third and sixth graders, expanding the number of seats for gifted students. The district also has teachers undergo antiracism training and more.

The Austin Independent School District created a system to prevent low-income families from being displaced by rising rents around the city. The system, which includes a website that tracks affordable housing options and a network of staff ready to help families, allows students to stay in-district and progress their learning within the same community. In gentrifying Austin, low-income families are getting pushed out. The district trained staff to help them find new, cheaper homes close to school.

In the rural, rugged country of Appalachia, towns like Stanville face some of the country’s most profound economic and public health problems. Some of these communities, however, are making remarkable strides against these challenges with the help of the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative, which makes schools a central pillar with entrepreneurial, innovative curricula, provision of health care resources, and hope and opportunity are restored in the post-coal era.

In the United States, young Black men are struggling in public schools due to systemic issues and lack of representation. This story gives insight into Ron Brown College Preparatory High School, a school with comprehensive programs serving to enhance the educational experience of their students.