Out-of-state flagships became even more attractive after the Great Recession of 2008, as families with financial means started to question the value of paying full freight at more obscure private colleges. In contrast to a private school like Scripps, Skidmore, Chapman, or Clark, a flagship—even if it meant moving states—seemed like a relative bargain. Sure, these families had to pay out-of-state tuition. But a price tag of, say, thirty thousand dollars a year at the University of Minnesota looked pretty reasonable compared with the fifty thousand or so that a private school such as the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts expected them to pay annually.
In some cases, high-school seniors were actively pushed to apply to out-of-state universities. Although most public universities expanded to take in more students from elsewhere, while still being able to cater to a sizable in-state student population, not all did. According to a study from 2017, a third of the nation’s flagships—all highly ranked and thus popular with out-of-staters—turned away some of their own state’s residents to make room for higher-paying students from elsewhere. For every two non-resident students who enrolled, the study found, one in-state student was shut out. That vicious cycle spins in states such as California, Illinois, and Texas. Residents apply to their local flagship. They get crowded out, and so they go to big public universities in other states which have space for them. Then students in those states get pushed aside, so they apply to public universities in other states, too.
In other cases, strong applicants were pulled across state lines by a hefty discount or a boutique academic experience, such as an honors college. One prospective student I met from Pennsylvania had initially set her sights on the University of Chicago. Despite her near-perfect stats (a 35 on the ACT, a 1510 on the SAT, thirteen Advanced Placement courses, and a 3.95 grade-point average), she was rejected after applying early decision. At the time, she didn’t have a single public university on her shortlist. Her mother did some digging and landed on the University of Mississippi as a possibility. It has an honors college and generous scholarships, including some that come with stipends for study-abroad programs and undergraduate research. “I applied to appease my mom and get an acceptance under my belt,” she told me.
It wasn’t until after she was accepted and had started the interview process for the university’s top scholarships that she seriously considered going there. She realized, “There were all these opportunities I could qualify for, and I was hearing about them before I heard I was even accepted to other schools.” Mississippi knew it was competing with much higher-ranked colleges, so it had to come in strong and early.
By April, the student had acceptance letters and financial-aid packages from Rice and Vanderbilt. Neither included the full ride and other perks that Mississippi offered her. Before making her decision, she flew to Houston with her dad to visit Rice again. It was a weekday, but the campus felt dead. They walked to a nearby park, where she made a pros-and-cons list for Rice and Mississippi. Then she broke down in tears.“The only pro I could come up with for Rice,” she recalled when we spoke recently, “is that people will know I’m smart because I go to Rice.”
With more tuition dollars coming in from out-of-state students, public universities such as Ole Miss could afford to offer discounts or even full rides to a select number of academic superstars. The University of Alabama, for example, spent $185.4 million on merit aid in 2023-24, more than twice what it allocated for need-based aid. These high-achieving students act as magnets, attracting others in their home towns who don’t mind paying an out-of-state sticker price that, to them, still seems like a steal.
When Alabama started going after out-of-staters, it focussed on two types of places, according to a team of social scientists who studied how colleges recruit. It targeted high schools in prosperous suburbs around Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Miami, and Los Angeles, where the university knew that getting accepted to in-state flagships was very difficult for all but the top students. It also courted applicants from bedroom communities around New York; Washington, D.C.; Seattle; Boston; and eventually Chicago, where Alabama’s sticker price looked downright reasonable compared with the tuition at pricey private colleges and more expensive public options. Over time, these efforts paid off. By 2022, Georgia, Illinois, Florida, Texas, and California ranked among Alabama’s top sources of out-of-staters.
When the big public universities first went on their out-of-state recruiting spree more than twenty years ago, they had an abundance of prospective students to choose from among millennials. Then, over the past ten years, they also saw a steady increase in interest from overseas, as the number of international students enrolling in U.S. institutions grew by twenty-seven per cent, amounting to more than a million international students attending school in the U.S.
And yet those pipelines may be drying up. The class of freshmen arriving on college campuses this fall may be the last big one for years, owing in part to declining birth rates and fewer high-school graduates deciding to attend college. What’s more, the decline is not evenly distributed across the country. Only the South will see a net increase in high-school graduates, and that’s the region where out-of-state enrollment has swelled the most among public flagships. For those universities, the supply of students from elsewhere may begin to dwindle.
The STEM pipeline – a metaphor for the development of future scientists, engineers and other high tech workers – likely starts with a narrower funnel in the post-pandemic era. Credit: CSA Images via Getty Images
Universities, philanthropies, and even the U.S. government are all trying to encourage more young Americans to pursue careers in STEM, an acronym for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Many business sectors, from high tech to manufacturing, are plagued with shortages of workers with technical skills. In New York City, where I live, the subway is frequently plastered with advertisements carrying the message that STEM fields pay well. But studying STEM requires more than an interest in science or a desire to make good money. Students also need adequate training, even in elementary and middle school.
That’s why it’s concerning that high-achieving students, who’ve received less public attention than lower achieving students, were also set back by remote learning and pandemic uncertainty. Fewer students with math skills shrinks the pool of people who are likely to cultivate an expertise in science, engineering and technology a decade from now. In other words, the STEM pipeline – a metaphor for the development of future scientists, engineers and other high tech workers – likely starts with a narrower funnel in the post-pandemic era.
The stakes are high not only for Gen Z, as they age out of school and enter the workforce, but also for the future of the U.S. economy, which needs skilled scientists and engineers to grow.
The leading indicators of STEM troubles ahead are apparent within the 2022 scores from a national test called the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The immediate headlines from that first post-pandemic test focused on the fact that two decades of academic progress had been suddenly erased. Low-achieving children, who tend to be poor, had lost the most ground. An alarming number of American children – as high as 38 percent of eighth graders – were functioning below the “basic” level in math, meaning that they didn’t have even the most rudimentary math skills.
Statisticians at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) have continued to dig into the 2022 data, and they’ve been also turning their attention to students at the top. These children are on grade level, but the eighth grade NAEP assessment shows that far fewer of them are hitting an advanced performance level, or even a proficient one. Math scores among top performers dropped as steeply as scores did among low performers. Even the scores of students at Catholic schools, who otherwise weathered the pandemic well, plummeted in eighth grade math.
We don’t have data for other private schools because they have refused to participate in NAEP testing, but the eighth grade math declines among both high-achieving public school and Catholic school students are not good signs.
NAEP tests reading and math in both fourth and eighth grades every two years in order to track educational progress. It’s one of the only tests that can be used for comparisons across states and generations. More than 400,000 students are specially selected to represent the regions and demographic characteristics of the nation.
Among the four NAEP tests, eighth grade math showed the sharpest pandemic drop. Math took a bigger hit than reading because kids can still read at home, while math is something that students primarily learn at school. If you didn’t read “The Hobbit” in your seventh grade English class because you were out sick with Covid, you can still be a good lifelong reader But not getting enough practice with rates, ratios and percentages in middle school can derail someone who might have otherwise excelled.
Why eighth grade math was hit harder than fourth grade math is a bit less obvious. One explanation is that the concepts that students need to learn are more difficult. Square roots and exponents are possibly more challenging to master than multiplication and division. And fewer parents are able to assist with homework as the math increases in complexity.
Yet another explanation is a psychological one. These eighth graders were in sixth grade when the pandemic erupted in the spring of 2020. This is a critical time in adolescent development when children are figuring out who they are and where they belong. A lot of this development occurs through social interaction. The isolation may have stunted psychological development and that ultimately affected motivation, study skills and the ability to delay gratification – all necessary to excel in math.
Let’s walk through the numbers together.
Highest achieving students lost ground in eighth grade math
Source: NAEP Report Card Mathematics 2022
This chart shows that the highest performing students, those at the top 10 percent and the top 25 percent, lost as much as low-achieving students at the bottom in eighth grade math. These eighth graders were in the spring of sixth grade when the pandemic hit in 2020, and it’s possible that they didn’t master important prerequisite skills, such as rates and ratios. These kids at the top are performing at grade level, but not as high performing as past eighth graders.
Fewer eighth grade students hit advanced and proficient levels
Source: NAEP Report Card Mathematics 2022
This bar chart shows that before the pandemic 10 percent of the nation’s eighth graders were performing at an advanced level in math. That fell to 7 percent. And the number of students deemed proficient in eighth grade math fell even more, from 24 percent to 20 percent. Before the pandemic, arguably, 34 percent of the eighth grade population was on track to pursue advanced math in high school and a future STEM career if they wanted one. After the pandemic in 2022, only 27 percent were well prepared.
Students at Catholic schools are generally much higher performing than students at public schools. In large part, that’s because of family income; wealthier students tend to have higher test scores than poorer students. Catholic school students tend to be wealthier; their families can afford private school tuition. In recent years, the Catholic Church has closed hundreds of schools that catered to low-income families, leaving a higher income population in its remaining classrooms.
Catholic schools outperformed public schools but also dropped
Source: NAEP Report Card Mathematics 2022
This chart shows that Catholic school students, depicted by the diamonds, outperformed public school students, depicted by the circles, in eighth grade math. But it was still a sharp five-point decline in eighth grade math performance for Catholic school students, almost as large as the eight-point decline for public school students. Scores of white students at Catholic schools declined five points; scores of students at Catholic schools in the suburbs declined seven points. Almost a quarter of Catholic school students are now functioning below a basic level in math for their grade.
Despite the good academic reputation of Catholic schools and the praise Catholic schools received for resuming in-person instruction sooner, math scores suggest a problem. And it’s a problem that potentially extends to the whole private school universe, where 9 percent of students are enrolled, according to the most recently available data from 2019.
I talked with Ron Reynolds, the executive director of the California Association of Private School Organizations, who explained that not just Catholic schools, but also many other private schools suffered even if they hadn’t been closed for long. Reynolds said that private schools were still hit by illnesses, deaths and absences and that might have affected instruction.
“Private schools are tightly knit communities in which teachers tend to be more intertwined in the lives of the children and families they serve,” he said. “When you have a crisis, and so many people experiencing stress and loss, that can certainly impact the teacher in some significant ways.”
Unfortunately, we don’t know exactly how other private schools fared during the pandemic because they have refused to participate in the NAEP tests for the past decade. Reynolds, who serves on the governing board that oversees the NAEP exam, has been trying to lobby more private schools to participate, but so far, to no avail.
Together private schools, selective public schools and affluent suburban schools have been important training grounds for the nation’s future scientists and engineers. Of course, it is possible that these high achieving students, now 10th graders, will catch up. Many of them are from wealthier families who can afford tutors, or attend well-resourced schools. But I am not seeing much evidence that schools have had the ability to think about the pipeline of advanced students when many students are so needy. And with post-pandemic grade inflation, students and parents may not be getting the signals they need to seek extra help independently.
The administration of the 2024 NAEP test wrapped up in March, but results won’t be known for many months. I’ll be keeping an eye on eighth grade math and on SAT, ACT and Advanced Placement scores in the years to come.
This story aboutmath scores was written by Jill Barshay and produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education. Sign up for the Proof Points newsletter.
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Amelia Copersito reads during her first grade class at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic School in Apex on Jan. 24.
Ethan Hyman
ehyman@newsobserver.com
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North Carolina School Choice
North Carolina is about to see record expansion in the number of students who get taxpayer-funded vouchers to attend private schools. But it’s not a cause for celebration for public school supporters at a time when they say they don’t get enough help. Here’s ongoing coverage from The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer.
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North Carolina is about to see record expansion in the number of students who get taxpayer funded vouchers to attend private schools.
For the first time in the state’s history, any family can apply for an Opportunity Scholarship to cover K-12 private school costs, regardless of their income. The initial response has been large, with more than 31,600 completed applications received during the first five days of filing.
The application period runs to March 1.
The new rules could lead to a 60% increase this year in the number of students getting a voucher. And that number will only continue to rise as state lawmakers plan to spend $4.7 billion on vouchers over the next decade.
“Historic expansion of the Opportunity Scholarship Program will lead to historic application numbers this year; I have no doubt,” Mike Long, president of Parents For Educational Freedom in North Carolina, said in a statement.
“Since the program was created, we have only seen OSP enrollment numbers rise, as has demand for the scholarship, because families across our state deserve to have that choice in their child’s education.”
“We could be putting that$1.7 billion into our public schools that provide choice to families,” Mary Ann Wolf, president of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, said in an interview. “Instead that money is being redistributed and put into private schools that don’t have accountability.”
Kids collectively throw water balloons at the Superintendent for Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Charlotte, Dr. Gregory Monroe, during recess at summer camp at St. Matthew Catholic School on July 22, 2022 in Charlotte. Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez mrodriguez@charlotteobserver.com
Most voucher students attend religious schools
State lawmakers created the Opportunity Scholarship Program in 2013, originally promoting it as a way to help low-income families escape failing public schools. Income limits have steadily been raised to allow middle-income families to get vouchers.
Most voucher students are attending religious schools. Sixteen Protestant Christian schools and one Islamic school received more than $1 million in voucher funding last school year.
Citing federal privacy laws, the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority is no longer listing online how many students are receiving Opportunity Scholarships at each school. The agency now only lists online the dollar amount paid to each school.
“Private schools don’t have to accept all students and can set their own admissions polices on who they want to accept,” Wolf said. “They can discriminate in terms of what families attend based on religion and other factors. That’s a significant difference where our public dollars are going.”
School voucher supporters celebrate National School Choice Week during a rally on Halifax Mall in front of the Legislative Building in Raleigh on Jan. 24. North Carolina could see a 60% increase this year in the number of students receiving a private school voucher now that income limits for families have been removed. Travis Long tlong@newsobserver.com
‘Priceless’ education for some families
Unlike many Protestant schools, Catholic schools don’t require students to be members of their faith. But Catholic families do pay a lower tuition rate.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh has 1,261 Opportunity Scholarship students among the 9,563 students in its schools.
An Opportunity Scholarship allowed Christina and Joe Copersito to afford the $7,722 tuition at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic School in Apex. They say their daughter Amelia, a first-grade student, is thriving there.
“As someone who attended both public and private schools throughout my lifetime, I can definitely tell the difference knowing that our child is getting a Catholic education,” Christina Copersito said in an interview. “That is beyond priceless, and that should be available to everyone, every religion, every ethnicity on this Earth without having their financial status being the decider.”’
Amelia Copersito works in her first grade class at St. Mary Magdalene Catholic School in Apex on Jan. 24. Ethan Hyman ehyman@newsobserver.com
It’s why Mary Jawabreh hopes to get an Opportunity Scholarship to send her two children this fall to St. Mary Magdalene. Jawabreh said her husband is unemployed so they can’t afford the tuition based only on her salary as a charter school assistant principal.
“It would be life-changing for our kids,” Jawabreh said in an interview. “They’d have smaller class sizes. They’d have their friends from parish athletics and from church activities.”
Anyone can seek a voucher now
The rules on getting a voucher are getting a major overhaul for the 2024-25 school year.
Instead of an income limit like in the past, a family’s income will now only determine whether families will get a scholarship of between $3,360 and $7,468 per child.
The state will also no longer require any voucher students to have previously attended a public school.
“We may see a larger number of older students coming in and, as the income guidelines change as well, really opening up to what … would otherwise have prevented our middle class families from having the Opportunity Scholarship,” Peggy Lane, the principal of St. Mary Magdalene, said in an interview.
Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, which is being paid by the state to promote the voucher program to parents, estimates 15,000 to 20,000 additional families could receive an Opportunity Scholarship this year.
“Schools that are participating are encouraging more current families to apply for the funds,” Stephanie Keaney, executive director of the North Carolina Association of Independent Schools, said in an interview. “We don’t know how many of those 15,000 new students are currently enrolled in private schools and how many will be transitioning to private schools.”
School voucher supporters celebrate National School Choice Week during a rally on Halifax Mall in front of the Legislative Building in Raleigh on Jan. 24. North Carolina could see a 60% increase this year in the number of students receiving a private school voucher now that income limits for families have been removed. Travis Long tlong@newsobserver.com
But in Arizona, that state’s department of education reported that more than half of the voucher recipients hadn’t attended a public school before.
Voucher critics expect families who are already attending private schools to be mainly getting the new vouchers in North Carolina. It’s led to the cry that millionaires can now get a voucher from the state.
“We were sold a bill of goods that this would help the poorest families, but that’s not how the reality is bearing out,” Todd Warren, state campaign strategist for Down Home North Carolina, said in an interview. “This is a savings account for wealthy private school families.”
But Robert Enlow, president of the group EdChoice, said North Carolina could be closer to the experience of New Hampshire, where he said only 29% of applicants after school choice expansion were existing private school families.
Even if a wealthy family receives a private school voucher, Enlow said that shouldn’t matter since the parents are already paying taxes to support public schools.
“Are we funding wealthy families who are already attending private schools?” Enlow said in an interview. “My response is we should fund families to do what’s right for their families regardless of their income status.”
Private schools raise tuition
Private schools across the state are raising tuition and sending information to families about applying for Opportunity Scholarships. How much of the tuition increase is due to inflation or to take advantage of additional voucher funding is unclear.
“Across the general economy, the increases in expenses such as utilities and supports for our students does affect our tuition,” Anna Bragg, the director of marking and enrollment management for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh schools, said in an interview.
“Additionally, we look forward to ensuring equitable salaries for our teachers, and the additional funding provided by the Opportunity Scholarship expansion will be able to assist those schools with meeting those needs.”
The tuition rate increases for some schools across the state is more than 10%, which is well above the rate of inflation.
For instance, LifeSpring Academy in Clayton is raising its tuition for the 2024-25 school year to $6,504 — an increase ranging from 17% for high school students to 29% for elementary school students. The school received $577,918 in voucher funding last school year and $634,143 so far this school year.
LifeSpring did not return a call from The News & Observer requesting comment on the tuition increase.
Thales Academy is raising its kindergarten tuition by 14% to $6,500 at several of its schools. Thales is also citing the Opportunity Scholarship becoming available for all students for why it’s eliminating tuition discounts.
“Thales Academy offers one of the lowest tuition rates for high-quality K–12 education in North Carolina,” Kelly Ellis, a Thales spokesperson, said in a statement. “Tuition increases vary and are due to inflation, to support teacher salaries and operational costs that have risen over the past few years.”
‘History changing’ before our eyes
Voucher supporters celebrated the program expansion during National School Choice Week in January. Rep. Donnie Loftis, a Gaston County Republican who sponsored legislation to expand the program, told attendees at a rally in Raleigh that “it’s amazing to watch history changing right before your eyes.”
“The House has worked very hard in making sure we had funding lined up,” Loftis told the crowd on Halifax Mall in front of the Legislative Building. “Now we need your help to make sure more parents know there’s opportunities out there.”
Loftis was joined by speakers such as Senate leader Phil Berger, who thanked parents for sending their children to a private school supported by the Opportunity Scholarship Program.
“We know that education is not a one-size-fits-all proposition,” Berger said. “It would be a disservice to parents if we did not provide them the educational freedom to choose a school that best fits their child’s education needs.”
Students from Fayetteville’s School of Hope perform during a rally celebrating National School Choice Week on Halifax Mall in front of the Legislative Building in Raleigh on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024. North Carolina could see a 60% increase this year in the number of students receiving a private school voucher now that income limits for families have been removed. Travis Long tlong@newsobserver.com
Cooper’s Office of State Budget and Management issued an analysis last year saying expansion of the Opportunity Scholarship program could cost public schools more than $200 million a year from lost enrollment. The analysis found that poor rural school districts could be the most impacted.
The voucher expansion comes at a time when North Carolina ranks near the bottom nationally in areas such as pay for beginning teachers and per-pupil funding. At the same time, GOP lawmakers are appealing a 2022 State Supreme Court decision that the courts can order an increase in funding for public schools.
“When the most wealthy take resources out of public schools to only benefit their children, that leaves the most marginalized students — the poorest students who are disproportionately students of color — trapped in underfunded schools that harm the state,” said Warren of Down Home North Carolina.
But Catherine Truitt, the Republican state superintendent of public instruction, said a “public schools only” focus pits schools against the people they’re meant to serve.
“The more I hear the cries for investing in public schools, the more convinced I am that what the real cry should be is invest in students,” Truitt said at the Jan. 24 school choice rally in Raleigh.
Catherine Truitt, the Republican state superintendent of public instruction, speaks during a rally celebrating National School Choice Week on Halifax Mall in front of the Legislative Building in Raleigh on Jan. 24. North Carolina could see a 60% increase this year in the number of students receiving a private school voucher now that income limits for families have been removed. Travis Long tlong@newsobserver.com
Related stories from Raleigh News & Observer
T. Keung Hui has covered K-12 education for the News & Observer since 1999, helping parents, students, school employees and the community understand the vital role education plays in North Carolina. His primary focus is Wake County, but he also covers statewide education issues.
The growth capital will allow the EdTech SaaS company to match even more families with the ideal schools for their children and drive enrollment for Schola’s PK-12 school partners.
Press Release –
updated: Jan 17, 2023
PHOENIX, January 17, 2023 (Newswire.com)
– Schola, the online platform that helps families discover, connect, and enroll in the ideal PK-12 schools for their children, marks a new milestone by closing a $10M Series A round of funding. With triple-digit annual recurring revenue growth, this minority-founded and led organization has already surpassed 100K students searching for the most suitable school in their platform to improve educational outcomes across the United States. The growth investment will power Schola’s continued nationwide expansion and standardization of how families and schools connect with one another, creating brighter futures for all.
“We’re very excited about the additional resources from this investment that will allow Schola to execute further our vision for families and schools across America. We will continue adding tools to the platform to help students in every state find their perfect school, giving them a better chance to reach their full potential.” – Jaime Martinez, Founder and CEO of Schola.
Channel Equity Partners led Series A, followed by significant investors Arizona Venture Development Corp, Revolution‘s Rise of the Rest (led by Steve Case, of AOL fame), EduLab, Stout Street, and Portfolia. Their support accelerates the addition of more mission-driven professionals to Schola’s team and expands the capabilities of its double-sided school choice marketplace, strengthening Schola’s commitment to increasing parents’ engagement with their children’s education. Schola will continue to revolutionize how English and Spanish-speaking families from various backgrounds connect with schools to build strong communities inside and outside the classroom.
“PK-12 student recruitment is yet another market transitioning from offline methods to streamlined, digital channels. The data showed that Schola’s school partners receive a potential 15x return on investment from the value of enrollment applications generated by its marketplace. CEP is thrilled to support this amazing team that has developed the most efficient solution for schools and families to succeed.” – Jensen Bryant, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Channel Equity Partners.
About Schola: Schola is the leading software company for families and schools to improve PK-12 education outcomes. Schola helps families discover, connect, and enroll in the ideal school setting and helps schools source, enroll, and engage with prospective families. Schola believes that enrolling in the ideal learning environment must be accessible; thus, it is entirely free to parents and students. Learn more by visiting schola.com
Cognitive flexibility allows people to switch gears and find new approaches to solve problems and its importance extends well beyond the classroom.
Press Release –
updated: Aug 19, 2021
MELBOURNE, Australia, August 19, 2021 (Newswire.com)
– Originally coined by scientists in the 1960s, ‘cognitive flexibility’ is about being flexible in the way someone learns. In essence, it is the ability to adapt behaviours and thinking in response to the environment. Regarded as one of the best private schools Melbourne wide, Haileybury says flexible thinking is the key to creativity and supports academic work and skills such as problem solving.
According to Haileybury, cognitive flexibility is a skill which enables people to switch between different concepts or adapt behaviour to achieve goals in a rational way. Unlike working memory, it is largely independent of IQ. While IQ is often hailed as a crucial driver of success, particularly in fields such as science, innovation and technology, creativity is also an important quality for accomplishment in these areas.
Haileybury explains that several factors challenge cognitive flexibility, including confirmation bias, in which people shape the information given to them to match their view or seek out information they agree with. Information bottleneck can also be an issue, where people can’t look clearly at the information in front of them because there is too much to process. Additionally, for many people, following the same steps and making the same decisions as in the past because they are familiar and comfortable is a challenge to cognitive flexibility.
Students who exhibit strength in cognitive flexibility can handle transitions easily, shifting between subjects and tasks in stride. Haileybury says these students often have success in tasks that require them to apply learning in one area to problem solving in another context.
Deemed the best private school Melbourne wide, Haileybury says the good news is that students can be trained in cognitive flexibility. Common strategies for enhancing cognitive flexibility resembles strategies for boosting divergent thinking, creativity and openness. To think flexibly, people must be able to draw from multiple reserves of knowledge and memory to engage with a task or problem.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, students have been forced to adapt their daily living, learn school lessons in a new way and socialise differently. According to Haileybury, this is training them in cognitive flexibility and helps students build higher resilience to negative events in the future.
As the top private school Melbourne wide, Haileybury says teaching students cognitive flexibility is essential to help them maximise their potential and also for society to flourish in the future.
New Washington State online learning program is open for enrollment.
FRIDAY HARBOR, Wash., June 16, 2021 (Newswire.com)
– Griffin Bay School’s K-12 Online learning program is now open for Fall 2021 enrollment to students throughout Washington State. Administered and funded by San Juan Island School District, in Friday Harbor, Washington, Griffin Bay School offers remote classes outside of traditional classroom settings and schedules. Griffin Bay School provides students and families an educational program that allows for flexibility, individualized attention, and a “work at your own pace” approach.
Some believe an education should prepare students for further learning, like college or trade school, while others prioritize preparing students for the workforce, developing social skills, or encouraging participation in civic life. The dedicated educators at Griffin Bay School understand the spectrum of needs and priorities that exist and recognize that flexibility is key to meet the needs of all students and families in an alternative learning program such as Griffin Bay School.
Griffin Bay School offers:
Program flexibility.
Odysseyware/Edgenuity and other state-approved programs.
“With Griffin Bay, I never have to feel like my child could be falling behind or not being challenged enough. They celebrate your child at whichever level they are at and see each student as an individual. It is a truly unique school and one that we feel very lucky to be a part of.”
– Katie Myers, Parent
“I love that Mrs. Heller always asks me what I am interested in and finds fun books and worksheets for me. I am always excited to pick up my new school materials.”
– First Grade Student
“I see Griffin Bay as the best type of high school for students like me and many others who need the independence and the opportunities that this system provides. Before I began attending Griffin Bay, I dreaded doing what was required. I appreciate the different ways I can learn at my own pace. I am also grateful for the attitude of the teachers to personally help me not be mad about doing school but actually help me be more excited.”
Griffin Bay School is a part of San Juan Island School District located in Friday Harbor, Washington. We are a public school district. Our current enrollment is 765 students, most of whom are local, but a growing number of whom are from across Washington State. Join us!
A Texas billionaire and GOP megadonor paid boarding school tuition for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ grandnephew, and the justice did not report the financial assistance for the child he helped raised on his annual disclosures, according to a new ProPublica report – the latest revelation raising ethical questions around the high court.
The ProPublica report on Thursday revealed that the billionaire Harlan Crow paid tuition for Mark Martin, who lived with Thomas’ family as a child and for whom the justice became a legal guardian. ProPublica cited a 2009 bank statement and an interview with a former administrator at the Georgia boarding school Martin attended.
The former administrator at the school, Hidden Lake Academy, told ProPublica that Crow paid for Martin’s tuition for the year or so Martin was at the boarding school. The administrator said, according to ProPublica, that he had been told by Crow that Crow also paid for Martin’s tuition at another school, the Randolph-Macon Academy in Virginia, which is Crow’s alma mater.
A statement from Crow’s office did not address the payments for Martin’s tuition directly but said that he and his wife had “supported many young Americans through scholarship and other programs at a variety of schools, including his alma mater.”
A friend and defender of Thomas, conservative lawyer Mark Paoletta, said on Twitter that Crow paid for the first year that Martin spent Randolph-Macon Academy and for the year he spent at Hidden Lake. Paoletta denied that Thomas ran afoul of the court’s financial disclosures rules by not reporting the payments, arguing that Martin did not qualify as a legal dependent under the federal ethics law in question.
However, on the justice’s 2002 financial disclosure submission, Thomas reported as a gift $5,000 from another couple that was characterized as an “Education gift to Mark Martin.”
The Supreme Court’s press office did not respond to requests seeking comment from the court and Thomas.
ProPublica previously reported that for years, Thomas has accepted lavish trips and gifts from Crow, which have gone mostly unreported on the justice’s financial disclosures, and that Crow also purchased several real estate properties, including the home where his mother lives, from the Thomas family.
The extent to which these transactions and hospitality should have been reported by Thomas has been the subject of debate among judicial ethics experts, who have noted that a recently-closed loophole for certain “personal hospitality” may have covered some of the luxury trips.
Thomas has said he followed the advice of others in deciding what required disclosure, and a source close to Thomas previously told CNN that the justice plans to amend his disclosure forms to reflect the real estate transaction, which also went unreported. Thomas also said in a statement last month that Crow “did not have business before the court.”
Nevertheless, court reforms advocates and Democratic lawmakers say that Thomas’ conduct shows that the current ethics rules for the justices – who are not subject to a code of conduct akin to the standards imposed on lower courts – are too lax.
Amid the ethics firestorm, which included a Senate hearing this week, Chief Justice John Roberts and the other eight justices released a “Statement on Ethics Principles and Practices” last week that the court’s critics say did not go far enough to address their concerns.
“Today’s report continues a steady stream of revelations calling Justices’ ethics standards and practices into question,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin in a statement on Thursday. “I hope that the Chief Justice understands that something must be done – the reputation and credibility of the Court is at stake.”
Republicans have pushed back on Democrats’ calls that Congress step in to enact stricter ethics rules for the justices, but some GOP lawmakers have acknowledged they’d like to see the high court – on its own – take steps towards greater transparency.
Asked Thursday about the latest ProPublica report, Sen. Mitt Romney said, “I hope they’ll look – they’ll evaluate.”
“I have no way of knowing the accuracy of that report and what’s been done but it clearly justifies taking a good look at it,” the Utah Republican said.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he wasn’t going to speak to the specifics of the new allegations against Thomas, “because I could sit here and talk about other instances from other justices that the fact patterns are similar.”
“Which goes back to the point of the Supreme Court should address this and they should address it on a consensus basis,” Tillis said.
Ethics experts who spoke to ProPublica also acknowledged that the tuition payments, if considered a gift to Martin, may not have required disclosure. But since Thomas was Martin’s legal guardian, according to ProPublica’s report, he would have had responsibility for the child’s education and the tuition could also be viewed as an unreported gift to the justice himself.
The statement from Crow’s office said that that the tuition he and his wife has provided for young people “is given directly to academic institutions, not to students or to their families.”
“These scholarships and other contributions have always been paid solely from personal funds, sometimes held at and paid through the family business,” the statement said. “It’s disappointing that those with partisan political interests would try to turn helping at-risk youth with tuition assistance into something nefarious or political.”
Changes reflect continued growth of Chicago’s leader in non-denominational faith-based schooling.
Press Release –
updated: May 10, 2019
CHICAGO, May 10, 2019 (Newswire.com)
– Daystar School today announced its new name, “Daystar Academy: An IB World School,” to reflect its expanded ability to offer the highly lauded, world-leading curricular framework of an officially authorized International Baccalaureate (IB) World School. With the new name and the launch of its inaugural 9th grade class, Daystar students now have a stronger presence on the world stage and will benefit from the higher acceptance rates at universities and colleges typical of IB graduates.
An IB education prepares students to thrive in the transition from high school to college through an invigorating academic way of learning that requires initiative, organization, and follow-through, and results in students who feel comfortable being the leaders and innovators of tomorrow; the adults the world needs!
“With our commitment to producing engaged global citizens and lifelong learners, we’ve adopted a learning program that takes a global approach to understanding big ideas across disciplines,” explained Tami Doig, Head of School at Daystar Academy. “As an IB World School, Daystar Academy is committed to helping our students understand the philosophical underpinning of knowledge through the guidance of highly skilled educators who engage each student through topics of study that hone their passions and an understanding of the world around them.”
This announcement comes as the school continues to grow via the opening of a high school this fall. “Expanding our program to include high school is a logical extension that enables us to continue empowering students to positively impact the world,” shared Deena Marie Carr, Chairman of the Board at Daystar Academy. “We believe that education needs to be experienced first-hand, touched with your hands, and felt with emotion. We’ve built a program that ensures that every student embraces the world around them as their classroom, using local, national and global resources as tools for learning.”
Daystar, founded in 1997, is now fully authorized to offer the IB Middle Years Program (MYP) for grades 6-10 and a candidate school for the Pre-K through grade 5 Primary Years Program (PYP). Daystar will offer the IB Diploma Program for high school as the launch class ages up to the Diploma Program grades of 11 and 12.
Daystar Academy is hosting an open house for prospective high school students on Monday, May 13 at 7pm. Daystar Academy is accepting applications for fall 2019 for preschool through grade 9.
About Daystar Academy
Daystar Academy, formerly known as Daystar School, is a faith-based, culturally engaged, globally-minded high school in Chicago’s South Loop, preparing students to positively impact the world. Daystar Academy is a deliberately socioeconomically diverse community with a student body made up of African American, Asian, Caucasian, Hispanic, Native American, and multiracial students. For more information, go to www.daystaracademy.org.
Madeleine Golda, Cross-Cultural Training Director of EduBoston, and Executive Director of Bachson Academy, to Present at Toronto Event
Press Release –
updated: Nov 15, 2017
BOSTON, November 15, 2017 (Newswire.com)
– EduBostonis pleased to have been invited to participate in the Professional Development Conference for Homestay Managers in Toronto. For over a decade, EduBoston has been a placement service provider to thousands of International Students interested in receiving a high school education in the United States and knows first hand the importance of placing these students with nurturing and loving Host Families.
Recent studies support the growing trend of International Secondary Students studying in the United States. In fact, the study by the “iie Institute of International Education” in New York reflects that in 2016, there were 81,981 International Secondary Students who studied in the United States. This trend provides evidence that Host Families are needed more than ever, and professional organizations like EduBoston must continue to provide their knowledge and expertise to Host Families and professionals who manage Host Families to be able to stay in line with the growing trends.
The International Student homestay industry has to keep up with trends that affect students, including academics, cultural immersion, expectations, English proficiency challenges and so much more. Continual communication, guidance, and education help bridge the differences between North Americans and students from other cultures. I really appreciate being invited to Doug Ronsom’s conference and look forward to collaborating with him further.
Madeleine Golda, Director of Cross-Cultural Training
The Professional Development Conference for Homestay Managers in Toronto,Ontario, Canada, takes place on Nov. 16-17, gathering professionals in the International Student industry focused on topics in relation to Homestay and Host Family Management for the international students in North America. Panels and sessions invite educators and host management professionals to participate over the two-day conference reviewing topics that discuss the demand for host families as the trend of students studying abroad increases.
Informative topics include:
Recruiting Great Host Families in Competition with Other Programs and Airbnb by Doug Ronson, ESQ Educational Services
Cross-Cultural Communication for Homestay Programs – Ms. Madeleine Golda, EduBoston
Preventing Homestay Coordinator Burnout – Jennifer Wilson, Canada Homestay Network
Mental Health; Changing Marijuana Laws and Concerns about Substance Abuse – Dr. Abby Goldstein, University of Toronto
And many other sessions. A full schedule can be downloaded at homestayguide.com.
The series of conferences that take place throughout North America is organized by visionary Doug Ronson, CEO of ESQ Educational Services. ESQ’s mission is to enhance the international education experience for students, hosts and homestay coordinators. Being in the homestay industry for more than 20 years, having been a Host Parent and homestay coordinator, Ronson knows first-hand the benefits as well as the trials and tribulations of hosting and the homestay industry. He has published many manuals and guidebooks for hosts and students and for the past two years has been organizing professional development workshops for homestay managers and professionals in the international student industry. Ronson states, “We are delighted to have Madeleine Golda speak at the conference. The homestay managers in attendance will benefit from her expert knowledge and vast experience.”
Ms. Madeleine Golda, Cross-Cultural Training director of EduBoston, and executive director of Bachson Academy, states, “The international student homestay industry has to keep up with trends that affect students, including academics, cultural immersion, expectations, English proficiency challenges and so much more.” Golda continues, “Continual communication, guidance and education help bridge the differences between North Americans and students from other cultures. I really appreciate being invited to Doug’s conference and look forward to collaborating with him further.”
About EduBoston Established in 1998, EduBoston is an industry-leading International Education consulting firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. Through the work of highly trained, dedicated local staff and CSIET-certified Host Family program, EduBoston ensures students are positioned to succeed both academically and socially. www.EduBoston.com
About Bachson Academy: Provide International Students and immigrants with effective and engaging English as a Second Language instruction, orientation to U.S. culture and the U.S. education system and improved learning skills, using methods which embrace learners’ diverse backgrounds and goals and promote intercultural understanding, service to others, reflection on experience and individual achievement. www.BachsonAcademy.com
Ms. Madeleine Golda serves as its executive director and recently was nominated and elected to the board of directors of CSIET-The Council on Standards for International Educational Travel. www.csiet.org
Media Contact: Christina Andrianopoulos, Senior Marketing Officer, EduBoston, 857.498.1203, Christina@EduBoston.com
Boulder, Colorado, March 31, 2017 (Newswire.com)
– Shining Mountain Waldorf School, a fully accredited Pre-K through 12 independent Waldorf school in Boulder, Colorado, introduced a new brand and logo that better reflects the values and aspirations of the school. The words truth, beauty and goodness – the new brand essence – have been painted across the wall of the school’s gymnasium.
“Waldorf Education is the fastest growing educational movement in the world. It is our responsibility and joy to develop future leaders that will have positive impacts on the world, it is important that our brand reflect this,” said Jane Zeender, School Director. “At the heart of our new branding is our purpose – we are a community dedicated to educating children to lead and serve the world in truth, beauty and goodness.”
“Waldorf Education is the fastest growing educational movement in the world. It is our responsibility and joy to develop future leaders that will have positive impacts on the world, it is important that our brand reflect this,” said Jane Zeender, School Director. “At the heart of our new branding is our purpose – we are a community dedicated to educating children to lead and serve the world in truth, beauty and goodness.”
Mary Eaton Fairfield, Admission & Marketing Director
The new brand includes a new logo, a modern representation of three mountain peaks with a sun rising above the center peak. The three mountain peaks are reminiscent of those that can be viewed from the school’s campus and conjure the three words from the brand essence. The sun highlights an aspirational destination. The school’s website at http://shiningmountainwaldorf.org/ was updated to reflect the new branding and the new logo has been emblazoned across the front of the school’s Festival Hall.
“Truth, beauty and goodness are ancient ideas; they are virtues that are crucial bedrocks of our humanity. Each one strengthens a different aspect of a human being, and each represents something we wish to foster in our educational program,” said Dr. Lawrence Mathews, high school teacher and faculty chair. “The qualities of truth, beauty and goodness are now regarded as the school’s essence, a true North, something for the school to follow, to aspire to, and to place at the center of our work.”
The words truth, beauty and goodness, and the new logo were painted across the wall of the high-school gymnasium to allow students to live the bold brand purpose.
Designed in partnership with Boulder-based creative firm, Storyworks Inc., the new brand and visual identity presents the school with clarity, purpose and vision.
“Shining Mountain provided a unique opportunity for us to work with a process we call True North, which is a brand process we designed for purpose centered organizations,” said Michael Shaun Conaway, CEO of Storyworks. “The faculty, staff, students and parents all contributed to the process so that we could tell the most authentic story of the uniqueness of a Shining Mountain education. When together we all hit upon Truth, Beauty and Goodness as the essence of the education, we knew we had found a True North that would guide the school for years to come. Once True North was found it was easy to tell the Shining Mountain story in the identity and in the films we made about the school.”
Shining Mountain would like to encourage everyone to explore the updated website and watch a new video series about the school at http://shiningmountainwaldorf.org/video/.
About Shining Mountain Waldorf School
Shining Mountain Waldorf School is a fully accredited Pre-K-12 independent Waldorf school with a current enrollment of 305 students (65 in the high school) for the 2016-2017 school year. A full Waldorf curriculum is offered, including two world languages (Spanish and German), woodworking, handwork, movement, instrumental and orchestral music, and chorus. All full-time faculty members are Waldorf-trained teachers and represent a rich spectrum of life experiences along with strengths as Waldorf educators. For more information, please visit http://shiningmountainwaldorf.org/.
About Storyworks
Storyworks is a Creative Firm that helps companies grow purpose, profit and impact. Storyworks offers a unique branding process for social ventures and for benefit companies called True North. True North recognizes that values and purpose work create alignment and power in organizations who are out to do good in the world. Brand then becomes an extension of the essence of the company driving authentic communications and storytelling that connect customers to the heart of the company. For more information about Storyworks, please visit http://storyworks.com/.
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If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Mary Eaton Fairfield, SMWS Admission and Marketing Director, at (303) 951-8579 or email at maryf@smwaldorf.org.
