In the movie “Mean Girls,” the ruling girl clique, known as “The Plastics,” reinforces its social standing by deliberately excluding and deriding other students. The movie is based on the nonfiction book “Queen Bees and Wannabes” by Rosalind Wiseman and...

    Many parents are aware that their school district has a school board comprised of members known as trustees, but that is often where their knowledge of trustees ends. Simply put, trustees are elected representatives and advocates for the school district....

    My youngest daughter is still going strong in her seventh year of Girl Scouts, and I’ve managed to land myself in the role of troop leader for the last six of those years. I’ve seen our troop of 11 girls grow up together, make incredible memories and...

  School uniforms have typically been the purview of private schools, but they are being adopted by U.S. public schools in increasing numbers. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, approximately 20 percent of all American public schools now...

  When we think of school subjects, most likely the core academic classes of math, language arts, science and social studies come to mind. Often, the fine arts – music, dance, theater and visual arts - are an afterthought. These special subjects, however, can...

  In November 2022, Austin voters approved $2.44 billion in bond funds for improvements across the Austin Independent School District. With those funds, many of AISD’s older campuses will be modernized, and all of its campuses will receive safety and security...

Based on its name alone, one might expect the term ‘common core’ to represent something that is essential for everyone to understand. In fact, that was exactly the idea behind the creation of the Common Core State Standards Initiative in the early 2000s, more commonly...

  The launch of OpenAI’s ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) platform in November 2022, has raised a number of concerns regarding the use of artificial intelligence by students. Will AI mean an end to authentic work? Will it degrade students’ abilities to think...

The college application process has certainly changed. While I was aware that I needed to keep my grades up in high school, I didn’t give much thought to college until I entered my junior year. Today’s students are encouraged to keep college in mind beginning in 9th...

    At its basic level, literacy is the ability to read and write, and having a strong vocabulary is a key component of that. Without a robust databank of words, a child can struggle to make meaning of the text he encounters when reading, which makes it harder...

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders, affecting approximately 11% of school-aged children. While school can be stressful for a child with ADHD, a teacher can create an environment that is conducive to...

  Parenting comes with a giant helping of second-guessing and a large dose of pressure to get things “right.” Nowhere else is this truer than in process of helping your child on his academic journey. One question that parents sometimes must consider is whether...