Engaging in mental health advocacy as a high schooler has granted the author the unique opportunity to observe some of the most inspiring manifestations of hope that humanity has to offer. Simultaneously, it has opened their my eyes to the systemic underrepresentation and misrepresentation of youth. The author has been mentored by their school…

The United States Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Bremerton Sch. Dist. held that a local school district violated the First Amendment freedom of religious expression rights when it directed an assistant football coach to stop praying on the fifty-yard line of a high school football field after each game. In finding for the high-school football coach,…

In 1955, the General Convention of the Episcopal Church called for the racial desegregation of Episcopal institutions: parishes, seminaries, and schools. The study of Episcopal school desegregation reveals a fundamental paradox: Episcopal theology promoted desegregation but "white flight" spurred Episcopal school growth. The question of…

Under the current Denver Public Schools (DPS) transportation policy, students are eligible for transportation if they attend their designated neighborhood school and live a specified distance from that school -- more than 1 mile away for elementary school, 2.5 miles for middle schools, and 3.5 miles for high school. A multitude of exceptions exist…

This case illustrates the importance for school leaders and teachers to be knowledgeable about current legal precedent when creating district and school policies. We describe a legal battle that occurred in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in which a school district instituted a policy affecting English learners that was in violation of two federal laws.…

The purpose of this paper is to share the voices of African American male students in a Midwestern urban high school as they struggled with school policies and discipline issues that were aligned with historical and cultural patterns where both care and justice are often viewed as separate spheres. These young men spoke of punitive measures and…

High school leaders are facing new challenges regarding dual credit programs and the COVID-19 emergency. Conflicting with traditional instructional procedures, school reopening policies have many high schools implementing various remote learning modalities of instruction. High school leaders must adjust their dual credit university partnership…

The focus of the milestone project is to focus on bridging the gap of bullying and classroom instruction methods. There has to be a defined expectations and level of accountability that has to be defined when supporting and implementing a plan linked to bullying prevention. All individuals involved in the student's learning have to be aware of…

Background: A unique biological shift in sleep cycles occurs during adolescence causing later sleep and wake times. This shift is not matched by a concurrent modification in school start times, resulting in sleep curtailment for a large majority of adolescents. Chronic inadequate sleep is associated with poor academic performance including…

The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the major policy studies concerning school counseling in the United States that were disseminated between 2000 and 2014. In all, reviewers located 37 documents that were disseminated between 2000 and 2014, and that were either intentionally written with a focus on policy implications or were…

Even as we mark the fortieth anniversary of Title IX, evidence indicates that pregnant and parenting high school students continue to struggle with stigmatization and discrimination within the public school system. To remind school social work practitioners and other concerned administrators of the provisions of this historic legislation, this…

Drawing on research investigating the impact of health imperatives around obesity, diet and exercise on the actions of teachers and pupils in schools, this paper offers a reflexive account of the relationships between the "noise" of obesity discourse in the public domain, policies forged to tackle health issues and the realities of…

School choice policies, a fixture of efforts to improve public education in many cities, aim to enable families to choose a school that they believe will best meet their child's needs. In New York City (NYC), choice and the development of a diverse portfolio of options have played central roles in the Department of Education's high school reform…

Although mandatory attendance is easily determined in a traditional, brick-and-mortar school, monitoring and enforcing attendance and truancy in an online environment is less obvious. Despite this challenge, virtual schools, especially those that are publicly funded, have a requirement to ensure that students who are enrolled are actually logging…

Newark's high schools play an essential role in building the next generation of young minds for college and career readiness. Yet, high achievement may be unattainable if students miss too much school. Reasons for student absence vary. In Newark Public Schools, 48 percent of high school students were "chronically absent" in the 2015-16…