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Good reads and listens... |
Los Angeles schools were in the news over the last few days. First, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, who was on leave and under investigation by the FBI, resigned from the top role in the nation’s second-largest school system, as LAist’s Mariana Dale reports. It’s unclear why he was being investigated and Carvalho has said he has done nothing wrong. The system also appointed a new leader. And in the same week, the school board adopted a far-reaching new policy about students and screen time that includes eliminating the use of district-issued digital devices, like tablets and laptops, in the early years, from preschool through first grade. And for every other grade level, there will be daily or weekly maximum screen time limits.
Speaking of screens, the new Toy Story 5 delves into how much screen time is too much for kids. That’s especially significant now, when many schools are out for the summer, NPR’s Rhitu Chatterjee reports. Research clearly shows that screen time goes up dramatically during the summer.
At one federal boarding school, local tribes now set the curriculum. Santa Fe Indian School, like so many federal boarding schools, has a painful history: It was designed to strip Native students of their culture. But this school has evolved. NPR Ed’s Sequoia Carrillo visited the campus that became a training ground for many Native artists as early as the 1930s. “It’s still a boarding school,” says Kyle Shutiva, a junior at SFIS. “But not how people would expect.”
A memo about how states provide services to disabled Americans has many people worried. In it, the Justice Department called into question decades of civil rights protections for people with disabilities, NPR Ed’s Cory Turner reports. Without the federal government requiring that states provide services that help people with disabilities integrate into their communities, advocates and legal experts warn that cash-strapped states could cut such home- and community-based services and return to what was once common practice: putting Americans with disabilities in nursing homes and large institutions. The memo arrived on the heels of the Education Department saying it would shift oversight of special education to the Health and Human Services Department, which also has some people concerned.
Meanwhile, one Philadelphia museum is working to make its exhibits more accessible to people who are blind or low vision. As America recognizes 250 years of existence, the National Constitution Center in the country’s founding city has begun offering guided tactile tours aimed at blind and low vision visitors in a gallery called "Signers' Hall," NPR Ed’s Jonaki Mehta reports. While federal law requires most public institutions like museums to make buildings accessible, access to exhibits inside is often still limited. The NCC joins a growing list of museums nationwide that have, in recent years, incorporated accessibility options like sensory-friendly days into their programming, though "touch tours" are less common.
Fifty years of Fudge, Margaret, Jill and Deenie. The end. Young adult fiction legend Judy Blume told NPR’s Scott Simon that more than 10 years after publishing her last book, she’s done writing and finds contentment reading children's books behind the counter at her bookstore in Key West, Fla. |
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These fourth- and fifth-graders are chorus superstars |
The 2026 PS22 chorus.
Lisa Kochman |
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You may have come across a video of the PS22 Chorus before: a school auditorium full of fourth- and fifth-graders, singing songs by Björk or The Cranberries or Rihanna.
Instead of standing tall and singing seriously, the PS22 kids are usually relaxed and leaning back into their seats. They look straight into the camera, making facial expressions and hand gestures that emphasize the lyrics of their sometimes unconventional song choices. This approach has turned the Staten Island, N.Y., chorus into a niche pop phenomenon, both on and off the internet, NPR’s Isabella Gomez Sarmiento reports.
But beyond its viral success, the PS22 Chorus is a public school program that has spent more than two decades teaching kids to build confidence and community through music.
"It's not just about singing. It's not just about learning notes and learning rhythms and learning lyrics," chorus director Gregg Breinberg says. "It's really about connecting." |
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