Strong School Communities

Posted August 31, 2017 | By Cooke Foundation Staff

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August 31, 2017 – Here’s our weekly roundup of education news you may have missed. Strong community partnerships and school services were discussed, with a focus on Houston students.

Know a community college sophomore or recent graduate planning to complete their bachelor’s degree? The foundation is seeking applicants for our Undergraduate Transfer Scholarship, a program that provides students with up to $40,000 annually for up to three years, along with opportunities for internships, study abroad, and graduate school funding.

 

Elementary & Secondary Education:

  • Though it will take time to assess the damages of Hurricane Harvey, NPR reports on the Houston Independent School District’s plans to reopen schools and provide three free meals a day to all students. The Atlantic discusses how local educators can best support students through trauma and its potential lasting effects.
  • Education Week reports on the responses to a national poll on wraparound services: “77 percent said schools should provide after-school programs, 76 percent said they should provide mental health services, and 66 percent said schools should provide health services.” Related research from the National Education Policy Center advises education leaders on strategies for strong relationships at community schools.

 

Higher Education:

  • In Education Dive, higher education leaders from New Orleans describe the residual impacts Hurricane Katrina had on their institutions, and share advice for neighboring communities to serve Houston’s displaced students and faculty.
  • Gail O. Mellow, president of LaGuardia Community College, explains the reality of today’s typical college students in The New York Times: “Over half of all undergraduates live at home to make their degrees more affordable, and a shocking 40 percent of students work at least 30 hours a week. About 25 percent work full-time and go to school full-time.”

 

Cooke Foundation Highlights:

  • “Public universities were designed to help students from the bottom of the economic ladder climb to the top by providing equal educational opportunity,” writes Executive Director Harold O. Levy in an opinion piece for the New York Daily News. “And yet growing economic inequality, in part, reflects the fact that the educational attainment for many young people is still determined by their parents’ wealth.”
  • Anastassia Goidina interviews fellow Cooke Scholar Gina Edwards on the Nukde blog. Gina shares tips for students balancing work and college schedules.

 

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