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New School Welcoming: Student Sponsorship Programs
By Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman Military-connected students adjusting to a new school commonly experience feelings of isolation, confusion, and searching for support. Students switching schools during the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to experience these feelings even more intensely. In an online round table discussion, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona hosted a Zoom call…
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Back to School: Supporting Teachers Strengthens the Team
By Terri Barnes Building a strong student-advocacy team is essential for military-connected students. As the school year begins in a pandemic environment, now more than ever, the team-building strategy should include supporting teachers, as well as students. Military-connected students at new schools won’t be the only ones navigating a new…
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Interstate Compact Reduces Risk of Graduation Delays
By Amanda Trimillos Moving can be a difficult time for any military family. We say goodbye to our friends, our neighbors, our routines, and our support system. But for high school students, changing schools because of a military move—or permanent change of station (PCS)—could mean saying goodbye to much, much…
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Proactive Communication for Students in Every Season
By Amanda Trimillos In meet-the-teacher sessions at new schools with my children, time and time again I heard teachers use the term “proactive communication.” Teachers offer parents several ways to communicate – email addresses, phone numbers, and notation areas in student agendas. They emphasize the importance of proactive communication with…
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Kindergarten: Ready or Not?
Stacy Allsbook-Huisman for Military Spouse magazine — Kindergarten is a magical year, when eager little ones head to school for the first time. Ready to learn, ready to be independent, ready to grow. But not all children are ready to take the leap of freedom or pace of learning. Not all…
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Exit Plan Cultivates a Healthy Season of Leaving
By Amanda Trimillos In the Season of Leaving, parents, teachers, and students work together to build an exit plan to cultivate a smooth transition from one school to another. A strong exit plan takes into account all the events, tasks, and actions leading up to the student’s last day of…
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Purple Up for Military-Connected Students
by Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman In military life, the color purple represents all branches of service. In April, Month of the Military Child, the Purple Up campaign shines a spotlight on the unique lifestyle of military-connected students. Wearing or displaying purple during Month of the Military Child is a way to show…
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Don’t Get Burned by the Summer Slide
Lizann Lightfoot for Military Families magazine – Every summer, students lose some of the skills and information gained over the school year. In some cases, this can mean up to two months of lost learning. Teachers refer to this regression as the summer slide. This can be particularly problematic for…
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Creating an Education Binder
Continuity is one of the challenges for a military-connected student, whose education is punctuated by moves, sometimes requiring as many as nine school changes from pre-K to high school graduation. Creating an Education Binder, a personal academic record for a student, is one way parents and teachers can safeguard the flow…
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Parent-Teacher Team Begins With Communication
Partnership and solid communication are the best shelter parents and educators can offer a military-connected student in any season or storm. A strong student-advocacy team begins with parents and classroom teachers, with close support from counselors and school administrators. The partnership also brings the student alongside, ultimately giving the maturing student…
