Essential education reporting across America

Community & Wraparound Programs

Bags of different sizes and a pink suitcase sit in front of a person sitting in a chair wearing a black jacket and a yellow cap. People sit in chairs waiting in the background.
From Chalkbeat Colorado Chalkbeat En Español
Familias migrantes están perdiendo su vivienda y pidiendo ayuda en las escuelas. Esto es lo que los maestros están observando.
Los estudiante migrantes en Denver enfrentan la pérdida de su vivienda justo cuando se están adaptando en la escuela. Los maestros están tratando de ayudar, pero las familias recién llegadas enfrentan muchos desafíos.
By Yesenia Robles and Erica Meltzer
 
A woman wearing blue scrubs stands in front of a body of water and green trees.
From Chalkbeat Chicago College and career readiness
Foster care peers aim to support each other in college life through new Illinois initiative
The Youth in Care - College Advocate Program aims to help students who can feel isolated and often struggle to graduate.
By Reema Amin
 
Bags of different sizes and a pink suitcase sit in front of a person sitting in a chair wearing a black jacket and a yellow cap. People sit in chairs waiting in the background.
From Chalkbeat Colorado School Enrollment
Housing help is running out for migrant families. Denver teachers are scrambling to help.
Denver gives newly arrived migrant families 30 days of free housing. When time is up, some families struggle to find somewhere else to go.
By Yesenia Robles and Erica Meltzer
 
A garland of red, white, and blue balloons hangs in front of a sign that reads “Attendance matters.”
Chronic Absenteeism Chronic Absenteeism
Chronic absenteeism is a stubborn COVID-era challenge. Here’s what schools are doing to address it.
Amid efforts to tackle challenges students face, one administrator says her message remains: ‘You’ve got to come to school.’
By Kalyn Belsha
 
An empty school hallway lined with lockers.
Student & School Performance Student & School Performance
Homeless and suspended in California
Homeless students are suspended at higher rates than their peers. ‘They’re being punished, a lot of times, for being impoverished.’
By Amy DiPierro, Center for Public Integrity
 
Silhouettes of students with their hands raised in front of a map.
From Chalkbeat Chicago School Enrollment
Chicago Public Schools enrollment is stable after more than a decade of decline
Preliminary data analyzed by Chalkbeat shows just over 322,000 students were enrolled as of the 20th day of school, when the district takes an official count. The stable number comes after a decade of dramatic annual declines.
By Reema Amin
 
A red sign reads Vote Here.
From Chalkbeat Tennessee Campaigns and elections
Memphis mayoral election voter guide: Learn where the candidates stand on education issues
Would they support city funding for Memphis-Shelby County Schools? How would they alleviate barriers to education? What is a quality school? Chalkbeat asked the candidates 8 questions.
By Laura Testino
 
A group of people sit in the bleachers at Harry S Truman Community College in Chicago. Holding signs along a bright green floor.
From Chalkbeat Chicago Back to School Reading List
Illinois parent mentors celebrate the new school year after 28 years of working with students across the state
The Parent Mentor Program started in Chicago in 1995. After 28 years, the program has expanded to over 2,000 parents at almost 230 schools around the state. On Friday, the program kicked off the new school year welcoming parent mentors back to the classroom at a celebration at Harry S. Truman Community College.
By Samantha Smylie
 
An elementary school student reaches for an apple on a school lunch line.
From Chalkbeat New York Community & Wraparound Programs
PODCAST: Food fight — the battle for better school lunches
A NYC student explores the quality of school food on this episode of the Miseducation podcast from the Bell, a New York City high school audio journalism program.
By Tovi Tankoano, The Bell
 
Two preschool girls play with toys from a yellow bin sitting between them.
From Chalkbeat Colorado Early Childhood Education
Colorado parents: Need help paying for preschool? Check out these programs.
Some programs are for low-income families, and others serve families regardless of income.
By Ann Schimke
 
A man in a suit and tie greets elementary school children in front of cameras.
From Chalkbeat Chicago Community & Wraparound Programs
Chicago Public Schools reopens for the 2023-24 school year under a new era of leadership
As roughly 320,000 students went back to class across Chicago, the district faces a number of challenges for the new school year.
By Reema Amin, Becky Vevea, and 1 more
 
Students sit in a classroom wearing masks while a teacher leads a lesson in front of a screen.
From Chalkbeat New York Community & Wraparound Programs
Summer Rising has brought joy for some, boredom for others
The city’s popular summer program continues to garner praise, though some parents at multiple school sites told Chalkbeat they decided to withdraw their kids this year.
By Julian Shen-Berro
 
A woman in a gold-colored head covering looks to the side.
From Chalkbeat New York Community & Wraparound Programs
Meet Afrikana, a Harlem community center powered by asylum seekers
Asylum-seekers volunteer at the center to help other migrants. The grassroots group is looking to expand its volunteer base to students.
By Eliana Perozo
 
A short yellow bus is parked on a street outside.
From Chalkbeat New York Special education
NYC school bus strike could disrupt start of year, Chancellor Banks warns
Banks said a strike could affect anywhere between 85,000 and 150,000 students. He’s “hopeful that we can avoid it.”
By Alex Zimmerman
 
A group of girls, all wearing pink, eat together in a school cafeteria.
Healthy schools Healthy schools
Districts tout benefits of universal school meals as more states let all students eat for free
At least nine states will offer free breakfast and lunch to all students this year. That number could grow, though concerns about cost remain.
By Kalyn Belsha
 
A person speaks at a podium while three people stand behind him.
From Chalkbeat Detroit Chronic Absenteeism
Detroit school district gains new partners to fund health hub initiative
The organizations will add an additional $1.8 million to the initial Ballmer Group donation of $2.76 million
By Ethan Bakuli
 
People holding up beige T-shirts in a room with a green chalkboard.
From Chalkbeat New York College and career readiness
‘Helping me help my community’: A look at a summer jobs program for undocumented students
Inspired by NYC’s Summer Youth Employment Program, Oyate’s summer internship focuses on helping undocumented students.
By Eliana Perozo
 
A tray under a student’s desk seat is filled with books and workbooks. The student, whose legs are present in the image, is wearing rainbow-colored shoes.
From Chalkbeat Tennessee Politics & Policy
From buildings to budgets, here are five key issues facing Memphis-Shelby County Schools this year
Memphis students return to classes for a new school year that could turn out to be pivotal.
By Laura Testino
 
Cell phones on a wood surface locked in a cage.
From Chalkbeat New York Teaching & Classroom
PODCAST: A look at locking up cell phones in NYC schools
Bronx student Zainab Kuta explores school cell phone policies for the Miseducation podcast from The Bell, which trains NYC high school students in audio journalism.
By Zainab Kuta, The Bell
 
A group of students wearing backpacks flanked by a fence and yellow school buses walk toward a school.
From Chalkbeat New York Special education
Some NYC school bus temperatures rose to over 100 degrees amid heat wave, parents say
More than 90% of school buses have air conditioning this summer, according to city officials. But advocates warn the heat can be severe inside buses that don’t.
By Julian Shen-Berro
 
A city bus is packed with teenagers, many of them wearing hoodies, hanging from the hand rails.
From Chalkbeat Colorado Chalkbeat En Español
Transporte público gratis para los niños: RTD no les cobrará a los jóvenes menores de 19 años
RTD planea ofrecer transporte gratis a los jóvenes todo el año escolar al mismo tiempo que las Escuelas Públicas de Denver reducen su servicio de autobuses amarillos.
By Sara Martin
 
A basket of classroom supplies in a kindergarten class.
From Chalkbeat Colorado Chalkbeat En Español
¿Necesitas ayuda para conseguir los útiles escolares? Estos son algunos eventos en Colorado para ayudarte.
Las escuelas y organizaciones de todo el estado están tratando de ayudar a los padres con algunos de los materiales básicos.
By Yesenia Robles
 
A basket of classroom supplies in a kindergarten class.
From Chalkbeat Colorado Back to School Reading List
Need help with school supplies? Check out these Colorado events.
School districts and other organizations are hosting events to give kids free backpacks, school supplies, haircuts, and more.
By Yesenia Robles
 
A teen wearing headphones is standing outside in a leafy neighborhood.
From Chalkbeat New York Mental Health in Schools
Mental health struggles often kept them home from school. But these students still made it to graduation.
NYC social workers say they are dealing with more extreme cases of school refusal, fueled in part by an alarming rise in suicidal ideation.
By Amy Zimmer
 
A city bus is packed with teenagers, many of them wearing hoodies, hanging from the hand rails.
From Chalkbeat Colorado Back to School Reading List
RTD will let Denver-area youth ride free all year — to school, to work, anywhere
RTD is rolling out free rides for all youth as part of a yearlong pilot program. It comes as the district is cutting back on already limited yellow bus service.
By Sara Martin
 
NY_07312023_ProjectPivot_MichaelSantiago_Getty_01.JPG
From Chalkbeat New York Community & Wraparound Programs
NYC is expanding a violence prevention program called Project Pivot. Tell us how it’s going.
By Alex Zimmerman
 
Two women make a colorful star-shaped piñata.
From Chalkbeat Chicago Community & Wraparound Programs
Chicago gears up to expand a pilot that added student and family services at 20 schools
Mayor Brandon Johnson and his team want to grow the Sustainable Community Schools program, a partnership with the Chicago Teachers Union.
By Mila Koumpilova
 
A group of girls, all wearing pink, eat together in a school cafeteria.
From Chalkbeat New York Community & Wraparound Programs
Here’s how NYC families can find free summer meal sites
NYC families can quickly locate the nearest free summer meal sites for their children, thanks to a text service from No Kid Hungry.
By Julian Shen-Berro
 
GettyImages_1384332897.jpg
From Chalkbeat Colorado Teaching & Classroom
Thinking about tutoring for your child? Here’s what you might want to consider.
As parents, what questions should you be asking about tutoring and whether your student can benefit? Here are some tips and insights from experts.
By Yesenia Robles
 
NY_07062023_ARISE_MichaelDuong_01_02.JPG
From Chalkbeat New York Diversity & Equity
This summer college program connects NYC high school students to STEM — and pays them for it
The program at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering aims to equal the opportunities for rising juniors and seniors, regardless of financial background.
By Eliana Perozo
 
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