Caitlynn Peetz Stephens is a reporter for Education Week who covers school district leadership and management. Prior to working at Education Week, she covered local education in Maryland and South Dakota.
A crossing guard assists students as they arrive for classes at Chalmers STEAM Elementary school on Jan. 22, 2026, in Chicago. Extreme cold hitting much of the United States in the coming days could test schools' aging infrastructure and force school closures. Chicago Public Schools called off classes for Friday, Jan. 23.
Students at Merganthaler Vocational-Technical High School board buses at the end of the school day on Dec. 13, 2024 , in Baltimore. Federally funded programs in the city's schools allow students access to services they might otherwise not get, such as tutoring and after-school programs, Baltimore Superintendent Sonja Santelises said at a recent panel discussion of the finalists for AASA's Superintendent of the Year award.
Flu shot vaccines are seen in a refrigerator at International Community Health Services on Sept. 10, 2025, in Seattle. A decline in flu vaccinations this year could be one factor helping the spread of influenza.
Vaccines are prepared for students during a pop-up immunization clinic at the Newcomer Academy in Louisville, Ky., on Aug. 8, 2024. Schools could face new questions about which vaccines are required as the federal government scales back its list of vaccines recommended for all children.
A student checks a phone before school in Spokane, Wash., on Dec. 3, 2025. One school leader discussed the time-saving effect of a bell-to-bell cellphone ban during a recent EdWeek virtual event.
Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, speaks at a press conference in Philadelphia on Sept. 2, 2025. Weingarten says that cuts to federal education funds by the Trump administration "are only hurting young people."
Most secondary educators don't get much teacher preparation to help students struggling to read. Realizing that its teachers needed help, the Marietta district in Georgia has invested in PD that gives high school teachers techniques for integrating word-reading, vocabulary, and other skills, like this workshop at Marietta High School on Nov. 10, 2025.
High school teachers learn how to teach reading to struggling older readers during an AIM training at Marietta High School in Marietta, Ga., on Nov. 10, 2025.
Kindergarten and preschool students play on a recently renovated playground at Taft Early Learning Center in Uxbridge, Mass., on March 12, 2025. Research out this year examines the patterns behind enrollment decline in Massachusetts schools, which the researchers say likely apply nationwide.
U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon is interviewed by Indiana Secretary of Education Katie Jenner during the 2025 Reagan Institute Summit on Education in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 18, 2025. The U.S. Department of Education on Tuesday unveiled six agreements moving administration of many of its key functions to other federal agencies.
Natalia Melo, community relations coordinator with Tampa Bay Federal Credit Union, teaches a financial literacy class to teens participating in East Tampa's summer work program. In New York City, a new pilot initiative will bring in-school banking to some of the city's high schools as part of a broader financial education push.
Gehring Academy of Science and Technology students attend an assembly on Nov. 22, 2024, to honor the Las Vegas school's designation as a 2024 Blue Ribbon School. The Trump administration in August ended the U.S. Department of Education school recognition program that began in 1982 and has recognized public and private schools for academic achievement each year.
A faculty member at Findley Oaks Elementary School holds a Centegix crisis alert badge during a training on Monday, March 20, 2023. Emergency alert systems have spread quickly to schools around the country as a safety measure. The nation's largest district is the latest to adopt one.