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Although public schools strive to teach students about conservation and environmental care, all campuses certainly produce their own waste. With classroom papers, copies, trash, packaged lunches, electricity, and other resource needs, some public school leaders are striving to reduce each campus’ carbon footprint.

To help schools and students embrace a more responsible environmental approach, many school leaders are implementing new “green-focused” programs to improve both the performance of schools and the education of students.

This video reports on green-friendly schools worldwide.

Greener Public School Reform

To help boost individual school responsibility, there are an array of programs and renovations that aim to “green-ovate” public schools. With “green ovations,” public schools implement environmentally friendly technologies or changes to improve the energy savings and output of the school.

For example, as reports, EcoMedia, an environmental media company, paired itself with the CBS Corporation to award three schools with new environmentally friendly makeovers. With over $600,000 dollars invested into new products and services to help revamp the three chosen schools, EcoMedia and CBS aim to help with “green ovations” such as:

• Solar and wind projects
• Energy-efficient lighting
• Green roofs
• Internal and external green upgrades

While EcoMedia and CBS sought to reward winning schools with green renovations, many experts assert that public schools across the country are striving to find ways to implement their own eco-friendly changes. Specifically, as reveals, rising energy

Did you know that your child’s public school may be the best source of after-school daycare? Whether parents need a little after-school support due to work or personal obligations, many public schools may provide much-needed support.

With rising parents needing childcare assistance, many public schools have introduced after-school programs, child-sitting, and additional activities. For parents needing a few extra hours of child care after school or seeking support during school breaks and holidays, children can enjoy supervised activities and attention at an array of public school childcare venues!

After School Child Care

Depending on a child’s school policies and programs, most public schools offer free or reduced-cost childcare services. For example, , located in Michigan, supports parents before and after school. According to the county, children ranging from 6 weeks to 12 years of age can receive childcare services Monday through Friday from 6:30 am to 6 pm. While costs of the child care range depending on the child’s age, the time of day, and the duration of service, Charlotte offers support that ranges from $7 to $40 per day.

In addition to Charlotte Public Schools, , located in Virginia, provide parents with after-school support for kids. Unlike Charlotte schools, however, Fairfax allows parents to receive child care support with a sliding fee scale. Essentially, each parent/family is provided with a unique and specialized price option based on the family’s gross household income. This helps parents of all economic

Research in autism has exploded in recent years as experts strive to find clues as to this spectrum disorder's causes, symptoms, and conditions. While the symptoms and classifications of autism are broad, autism manifests itself as a Pervasive Developmental Disorder, which falls into the category of neurological impairment.

According to the (ASA), autism impacts an individual’s social and communication abilities. “Both children and adults with autism typically show difficulties in verbal and non-verbal communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities.” As scientists and researchers continually discover more information about this condition, more children and adults are diagnosed with autism.

Startlingly, as ASA reveals, autism is currently the most common developmental disorder, impacting 1 out of every 150 children. With this data, an estimated 1.5 million Americans are currently coping with some form of autism spectrum disorder. This number continues to rise at approximately 10 to 17 percent each year. Experts suspect that approximately 4 million Americans will cope with autism within the next 10 years. With this rising number, schools are rapidly striving to implement programs, resources, and support tools for families and children dealing with autism. To help provide autistic children with added support, parents can utilize five core tips to improve their child’s progress and development in public schools.

This video looks at autistic children in school settings.

Find Out About Available Programs

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Educators and public school leaders are always experimenting with new ways to improve classroom instruction and student learning. One of the latest trends involves new plans to educate students in single-sex classrooms.

While combined gender education has been, and continues to be, the strongest and most popular trend in public school classrooms, some educational experts assert that single-sex classrooms can boost student learning, performance, and behavior. In fact, studies proving the benefits of single-sex classrooms have been so positive that the Department of Education overturned its ban on single-gender classrooms, creating new legislation allowing public schools to implement single gender instruction once again. This new legislation was groundbreaking, as single-sex instruction has been prohibited in public schools since 1975.

With the new education legislation, school leaders are experimenting with new classroom designs to find out if a single-sex instruction can help save failing and struggling public schools and students. Currently, about 500 public schools are trying out new single-sex instructional models with the hopes that students will be able to focus and engage more effectively when separated from their opposite gender.

The Benefits of Single-Sex Classrooms

Single-sex classrooms, historically more popular in private schools, are essentially classrooms designed to teach all boys and all girls in separate settings. According to research, the cognitive, behavioral, and social development of the two genders is so different and unique that separating the genders allows for more