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There's a lot of evidence that schools and students are more violent places after the pandemic. GETTY IMAGES To read more of F. Chris Curran and the Conversation's article, please click here. The 2022-23 school year was a particularly violent year for educators . Recent headlines suggest the 2023-24 school year may not be much different. Such violence at school disrupts teaching and learning and has elicited calls to reform school discipline policies . As a policy researcher who studies...

To read more, click here, California Bans Book Bans and Textbook Censorship in Schools . SACRAMENTO — Building on his Family Agenda to promote educational freedom and success, Governor Gavin Newsom today signed AB 1078 by Assemblymember Dr. Corey Jackson (D-Moreno Valley), which bans “book bans” in schools, prohibits censorship of instructional materials, and strengthens California law requiring schools to provide all students access to textbooks that teach about California’s diverse...

To read more of Learn4Life's article, please click here. Yes, the pandemic created huge learning losses for millions of students, so what’s being done about it? “We work with many students who used to come to us as freshmen reading at a fifth-grade level,” explained Kathyrn Limata, literacy teacher. “Now, most of the students I see in my literacy classes are at a third-grade level and some are even at a first-grade level, having to learn basic phonics. It’s heartbreaking.” Limata said that...

(Spectrum News/ Zarina Khairzada) To read more of Zarina Khairzada's article, please click here. LOS ANGELES — Babies in the classroom? That’s a reality for parenting and pregnant students at Learn4Life’s Alta Vista Innovation High School in Inglewood, taking part in the Helping Our Parenting-students Excel (HOPE) Program . The program provides students with a safe space for parents to watch their children as they complete credits needed to graduate. It’s also common to see supervising...

Four Learn4Life students enjoyed a wonderful experience of having facials with Community Wraparound’s Community Mentor, Christina Vargas, on August 24th, at Community Wraparound’s office in the Jacobs Center in San Diego, Facial supplies were provided and the youth laughed and giggled as they enjoyed the experience together. Angelina shared that her favorite part was meeting everyone and having a different space to hang out with girls. Amy was grateful to be invited to express her feelings,...

To read more of Jennifer DePaoli and Jennifer McCombs ' article, please click here. DePaoli, J., & McCombs, J. (2023). Safe schools, thriving students: Evidence-based strategies for creating safe and supportive schools. Learning Policy Institute. https://doi.org/10.54300/701.445 A rise in the number of school shootings over time has driven increasing attention to school safety. However, school shootings are not the only physical safety threat students may encounter at school. Other types...

Successful health equity strategies must be inclusive, and focus on all marginalized and minoritized persons and their communities. Any lesser view will continue to yield a faulty health equity equation.

Our speaker for the August PACEs Connection Cooperative of Communities meeting will share ways of building community connections we may not have thought of before – starting with trust in the earliest and most important relationships – as well as some challenging news, exciting resources, and timely inspiration. Cooperative of Communities members and members of their communities are invited to join us tomorrow, August 8, 2023, at 10 a.m. PT, Noon CT, and 1 p.m. ET when we welcome Deborah...

(This is a review of what I believe is an important new resource for the PACEs [for positive and adverse childhood experiences] science movement. Opinions expressed are my own, and are shared as a parent, advocate, author, and longtime student of trauma, healing, and prevention. Thoughts are also shared through my lens as someone who believes, deeply, in the incredible importance of and value in building healthier, more compassionate communities to support and nurture pregnant and new...

To read more of the Learn4Life article, please click here. Vinaya has a happy and supportive family, and she loves to spend time cooking and watching movies with them. But in high school, she found it hard to focus while sitting in classes all day and dealing with bullies, and she began to fall behind in credits. She knew that she needed to earn her diploma and go to college to get a good job, so she started looking for alternative schools. At Learn4Life’s Marconi Learning Academy in...

To read the Learn4Life article, please click here. We see time after time how students can blossom and flourish when just one adult in their life shows that they care. Tanja Politiski in our Lake Elsinore school is that inspiring, caring teacher for so many of her students…like Zane, a homeless student she was determined to help meet his goal of graduating. He was doing well with school, but then his foster mother asked him to leave their home. At age 17, the last thing he wanted to do was...

To read the Learn4Life article, please click here. Growing up around rampant drug use, instability at home and bullying at school is a too common reason high school students give up and drop out. For Gabriella “Gabby” M., she chose another option by removing herself from the negative situations that surrounded her. While attending a public high school in Philadelphia, Gabby was bullied and felt unsafe every day. She had enough and decided it was time for a change. She left Philadelphia and...