By Maya Pottiger, Word In Black Even in a school year derailed by a pandemic, Black students were disciplined at higher rates than white students across the country. Using statewide discipline data from the 2019-2020 school year, Word in Black analyzed which students in California, Georgia, Maryland, Texas, and Washington state were facing higher rates […]
Category: Word In Black
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Why these five diseases disproportionately affect the Black community– and how to avoid them
By Mylika Scatliffe, AFRO Women’s Health Writer The United States is generally considered to be one of the most powerful nations in the world both economically and in terms of military power. It’s also generally known to lag behind most other developed countries when it comes to health and health care– leading to significant racial […]
Posted inBaltimore News
Kindergarten readiness- is your child prepared?
By Ama Brown, Special to the AFRO This week, the AFRO took a look at Kindergarten readiness for new students in the Baltimore City School System (BCPSS). We spoke with a few of the city’s early education teachers, Karan Greene, an early learning teacher at DaySpring Headstart’s Dukeland site, and Baltimore City Public Schools Teacher, […]
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Prince George’s County Schools resume mask mandate as students return
By Deborah Bailey, AFRO D.C. Editor Officials in Prince George’s County have announced that students will start the 2022-2023 school year with masks on. The PGCPS website recently notified parents that masking is now required of Prince George’s County Public Schools (PGCPS) students and employees. “In light of the highly contagious COVID-19 BA.5 variant, Prince […]
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COVID-19 safety protocols priority for students heading back to D.C. schools
By Samuel Williams Jr., Special to the AFRO D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) officials are taking no chances with potential COVID-19 outbreaks as they prepare to open. DCPS used the summer ahead of the 2022-2023 school year to release important up-to-date COVID information for families through its new website, dcpsstrong.com. Families currently have access to the […]
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Students in Montgomery County, Md. say they feel unready for college
By Blessings Chingrande, Special to the AFRO Rising high school seniors in Montgomery County say they are hesitant to apply for college because the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t allow for school administrations to adequately prepare students to meet college demands. “I don’t know where to start, or how to navigate or go about it,” said Hemen […]
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America’s school lunch program is failing Black students
By Maya Pottiger, Word In Black From mushy fish sticks and fries to mystery meat burgers and soggy broccoli, public school lunches in the United States aren’t exactly known as a culinary delight. But these free and reduced-price school lunch meals — as well as a breakfast to start the day — keep millions of […]
Posted inAfro Briefs
Here’s How We Bring Black Students Back to School
By Maya Pottiger, Word In Black Between mass shootings, anti-LGBTQ bills, burned-out teachers, diverse books being banned, and the school-to-prison pipeline, as well as drill-and-kill standardized-test-driven instruction, is it any wonder some students aren’t feeling like showing up to school anymore? Sprinkle the educational disruptions from COVID-19 on top, and it’s understandable that thousands of […]
Posted inNational News
How anti-LGBTQ legislation will impact Black students
By Maya Pottiger, Word In Black As students around the country begin heading back to school, they’re being told that this year will be “normal” again, referring to classes being in-person and likely mask-less. But it won’t be normal for LGBTQ students. In fact, it will likely be one of the furthest from normal school […]
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Boost now or wait? Many wonder how best to ride out COVID’s next wave
By Sam Whitehead and Arthur Allen, Kaiser Permanente for Word in Black Gwyneth Paige didn’t want to get vaccinated against COVID-19 at first. With her health issues — hypertension, fibromyalgia, asthma — she wanted to see how other people fared after the shots. Then her mother got colon cancer. “At that point, I didn’t care […]
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#WordinBlack: It’s back-to-school time. Here’s what teachers need
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black This time of year, social media feeds are flooded with teachers posting lists of supplies they need for their classrooms and asking for the public’s help to ensure students have everything from art supplies and calculators to books and reading bean bags. #ClearTheList, as the hashtag goes, along with […]
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#WordinBlack: Here’s why Black kids need Black books
By Maya Pottiger, Word in Black While browsing the gift shop at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, librarian Kathy Lester watched a young Black girl grab a book and run up to her parents. Holding it up to them, the girl told them she’d read it at school, and it was […]