Lisa Sanetti said the “levels of heightened stress and waves of uncertainty” adults have experienced during this past year have very real effects on children. “I’d say that it’s not possible to focus on the children without making sure that the adults around them are healthy as well.”

Sandra Chafouleas, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Connecticut, said most schools she’s researched do academic and health screenings, such as for lice. “But when we looked at what people were doing in the social-emotional-behavioral space, only about a third of districts (nationally) said they were engaging in that kind of practice,” she said.

The parents of the more than 50 million children who attend public schools in the U.S. are facing an unprecedented amount of stress. They worry about keeping their families healthy and how to juggle work and childcare. Some face financial anxieties because of furloughs or unemployment, and nearly everyone is feeling isolated and lonely.

It’s widely known that private schools that receive state-funded tuition vouchers may discriminate against students and families on the basis of religion, sexual orientation and gender identity. Shouldn’t that be illegal? A law journal article suggests it may be.

“We have to start thinking about the whole student,” said Jason Irizarry, dean of the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. “Having a more holistic understanding of our students and their communities is central to reaching all students.”

For the sixth consecutive year, U.S. News & World Report has ranked UConn’s Neag School of Education among the top 20 public graduate schools of education in the nation.

“There has to be some happy medium there between finding assessments that will provide reliable information for parents, students, and teachers,” said Morgaen Donaldson, an associate professor at the University of Connecticut who researches educator evaluations, “and then having teachers set goals based on those assessments that are smart, realistic and context-specific, and can be part of their evaluation.”

Weston High School Principal Lisa Wolak has been selected to take the reins on July 1 as Superintendent of the Weston Public School District. She completed her superintendent certification program at the University of Connecticut and remains in the doctoral program.

Uyi Osunde, principal of Windsor High School since 2016, has accepted the position of school superintendent in Stratford. A former defensive end and co-captain for the UConn football team in 2003 who played briefly in the NFL, Osunde earned a bachelor’s in psychology from UConn, then later earned a master’s in educational psychology and a doctorate in educational leadership. He is also a graduate of the Executive Leadership Program at UConn’s Neag School of Education.

“The problem that we may have is that, even if we spend the money wisely and do things that need to be done, you may not get the turnaround in two or three years,” says Preston Green, a professor of educational leadership in the Neag School of Education. “What I’m calling for is more patience.”