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State of the Student tackles four big topics 

All Districts Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
Area students were center stage at the annual “Listen. Learn. Lead.” event to share their thoughts about mental health, school safety, engagement and belonging.

High-schoolers talk mental health with education leaders, legislators

Multi Districts Erin Albanese
What can schools do to support student mental health and make connections? Students shared their thoughts on how and why it’s so important to them.

Elementary students ‘adopt’ dairy cow for school year

Sparta Riley Kelley
Ridgeview Elementary students will follow a dairy cow named Tori this school year as part of their curriculum.

No cell phones in class? It’s a good thing, student and principal say

Podcasts School News Network
Five years after Forest Hills adopted a policy severely restricting cell-phone use during the school day, we talk to a student and principal about how that’s working out.

After 50 years, this teacher has no regrets

Sparta Riley Kelley
Mar Higgins is eyeing retirement after a half-century with Sparta Area Schools.

U.S. Rep. Scholten weighs in on national issues affecting local schools

All Districts Beth Heinen Bell
U.S. Rep. Hillary Scholten recently sat down with SNN to discuss career and technical education, the upcoming election and more. 

Is it enough? Supplemental budget aims to offset mental health, security cuts

All Districts Riley Kelley
Supplemental funds will curb the impact of mental health and safety cuts in the education budget, but they won’t solve everything.

Sparta prioritizes student needs, communication in new district roadmap

Sparta Riley Kelley
Sparta has approved its three-year strategic plan, and is hoping to address top issues this school year.

U.S. Education Secretary: ‘We gotta fight for our educators’ 

All Districts Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona hosted a roundtable discussion on public service loan forgiveness with local educators.

First-year teacher wants students to know ‘You can have fun while learning’

Podcasts School News Network
In this episode of Study Hall, first-year Kent City teacher Marla Anderson discusses why she chose teaching at a time new teachers are badly needed.

Why do most schools start before Labor Day? Several reasons

Multi Districts Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
Middle college programs are the main reason Kent ISD seeks a post-Labor Day waiver for all local school districts. But there are others.

Middle-schoolers tell what they’re excited to learn about this year

Sparta Riley Kelley
Sparta students share their educational aspirations for the 2024-25 academic year.

Bus drivers role-play safety, security events

All Districts Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
More than 170 attended a training focused on educating bus drivers on how to handle unexpected violence and threats.

Starting the school year right for 10,000+ Kent County students

Multi Districts Alexis Stark
Storehouse of Community Resources collaborated with local businesses and community organizations to fill backpacks with supplies for more than 10,000 Kent County students at their inaugural Big Backpack Build event.

Districts are feeding more students due to universal free meals

Multi Districts Erin Albanese
Increased participation, kitchen investments and more menu options have followed the implementation of universal free school meals.

Voters say ‘yes’ to library, early childhood millage requests

All Districts Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
Both the Kent District Library and the Ready by Five early childhood millage requests had huge support at the polls. 
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School News Network reports on the 20 public school districts in Kent ISD, which enroll more than 102,000 students. Founded in 2013 as an initiative of Kent ISD, we are supported by local districts and community sponsors, and powered by an experienced team of reporters, editors and multimedia journalists. We specialize in covering classroom teaching and learning, analyzing the many issues facing students and highlighting the education magic that happens each day in our public schools.

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