After more than a year of restrictions and online schooling, educators and counselors are focusing on ways to assess the long-term social, emotional and mental impact of the pandemic on school children when they return to the classroom. Christopher Booker reports from Fairfield County, Connecticut as part of our ongoing series, “Roads to Recovery.”

Cleveland Browns GM Andrew Berry raised some eyebrows recently when he hired Bob Quinn as a senior consultant. Bob Quinn may not be a household name in Cleveland, but he has a long career in the NFL.Quinn was born and raised in Massachusetts and went to college at the University of Connecticut. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in political science and a Master’s Degree in sports management. Quinn worked within the New England Patriots organization from 2000-2015 in various scouting and personnel roles.

“As a professor and researcher in special education, I’ve worked with many students with disabilities transitioning to college. The ones who are typically most successful after high school are the ones who were prepared to be strong self-advocates, who could seek out needed services and supports, and who could manage the multiple demands of being independent,” writes Joseph Madaus, a professor of educational psychology at UConn’s Neag School of Education and director of the Collaborative on Postsecondary Education and Disability.

The Board of Education named the principal of a New Haven magnet school, Michael Crocco, as the new leader of Southington High School. Crocco received both his Connecticut Administrative Certification and Connecticut Superintendent Certification from the University of Connecticut Executive Leadership Program in 2017.

School Counselors Leading the Way: Helping to assist students in their school adjustment, academic performance, and mental health in a post-pandemic school setting

Cécile Sophie Pieper, who earned a master’s degree in educational psychology as a redshirt senior, will again play for Germany and try to win another Olympic medal to join the Bronze she earned in field hockey during the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

This summer, UConn neuroscientist Fumiko Hoeft, education researcher Devin Kearns, and collaborators from Psychological Sciences, the Neag School of Education, Mathematics, Brain Imaging Research Center (BIRC), and others launched the five-week, all-expenses-included summer camp at Storrs for 3rd and 4th grade children who are struggling to read.

hen elementary school students return for the upcoming school year those at John F. Kennedy and Clover Street elementary schools will be greeted by new principals. School officials have hired Jennifer Michno as principal of John F. Kennedy Elementary School and Felicia Poskus as principal of Clover Street Elementary School. Both began their new roles on July 1.

“Learning is never lost, though it may not always be ‘found’ on pre-written tests of pre-specified knowledge or preexisting measures of pre-coronavirus notions of achievement.” – Rachael Gabriel, Associate Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Connecticut.

In our continuing “Opportunity in Crisis” series, Washington Post opinions writer Jonathan Capehart speaks with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona about what policies can help students, teachers and families as schools reopen again this fall. In 2012, Miguel won the 2012 National Distinguished Principal Award for the State of Connecticut and the Outstanding Administrator Award from UConn’s Neag School of Education. Secretary Cardona then transitioned to lead the work of Performance and Evaluation in the district. He then assumed the role of Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning, overseeing teaching, learning, and leadership alignment.