I love how this type of transcript will enhance kids' learning, not only with less stress but more interesting education experiences.

When kids have a part in choosing what to focus on learning in a particular class, they become more vested & excited about the whole process.

I recently heard about learning coaches in high schools where each student has a learning coach to help guide & support them. This reminds me of the AVID program at Los Altos & Mountain View High Schools.

Also some schools (I think Bullis Charter School) have IEP's (Individual Education Plans) for every student, not just special education students.

Education should be more interactive, not just lectures. Group work & exploration is very important.

To reduce stress & help with quality of life, many schools are bringing in mindfulness. I remember visiting the awesome school, Fusion Academy in Los Gatos, when students were doing mindfulness. I had never seen it in practice at a school. Melissa Mayes is a great head of school at Fusion! Los Altos High School is bringing mindfulness to its students through gym class. I also have a great friend who is being mindfulness into the public schools in San Francisco.

There is an increase of anxiety in schools. A few years ago & as part of SELPA 1 CAC, I heard about the increase of anxiety in Blach Middle School in Los Altos. Their solution was to bring in mindfulness & the anxiety levels decreased.

Speaking of anxiety, the best ap for reducing anxiety is
MINDFULNESS FOR TEENS. I heard about it at a Challenge Team meeting a few months back. A Stanford pediatric resident presented on her research on anxiety phone aps. It was great to hear about the history of mindfulness as well of her experiences with different aps. She was wondering how to best make an impact with her teen patients & decided to show them the ap rather than take the time to teach mindfulness. The key was to schedule another appointment with each teen to find out what they got out of the ap, it ensured that her patients used the ap.

So much exciting work is going on in education today!
Best,
Trudy Palmer
SELPA 1 CAC member since 2001
Mental Heath Subcommittee founder & member since March 2015

Most of the local private schools mentioned have tuition north of $20,000 per year per student. Some even over $30,000! With that kind of administrative support - they may experiment with many things. Like PhD scientists to run workshops classes on scientific projects, less than 20 students per class.

"Admittedly more challenging" indeed for the kids and teachers in public schools.