COVID-19 cases are surging in states. So does that mean it’s OK to send kids back to school in the fall? Here in Connecticut, coronavirus trends look very different, leading Governor Ned Lamont to recommend that schools reopen. But the uncertainty is causing anxiety among parents, teachers and students. How will schools ensure everyone will be safe? How will kids’ learning be impacted? And on a practical level, how will wearing masks and social distancing work inside our schools?

Rachael Gabriel, director of the Neag School of Education’s Reading and Language Arts Center, tells us about some of the initiatives she’s hoping will help students, teachers, and parents stay on top of reading education during the pandemic.

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, unemployment rates in the U.S. rose to their highest level since the Great Depression as of mid-April. In the past week alone, the U.S. Department of Labor reported more than 1.4 million new unemployment claims.

Diandra J. Prescod, associate professor and program coordinator of counselor education and counseling psychology at the Neag School, is working to combat the obstacles faced by those Americans who have lost their jobs or been furloughed as a result of the pandemic. She wants them, first and foremost, to have hope.

“I see sports at its best as a great example for our country to be a better team and better teammates,” says Doug Glanville.

“We have a lot to be worried about as adults, but at the center of what is going on in our heads should be how we are talking about back-to-school with our children,” says Sandra Chafouleas, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor and school mental health expert.

“We have a lot to be worried about as adults, but at the center of what is going on in our heads should be how we are talking about back-to-school with our children.”

Americans are starting to really examine the statues in their communities including here in our state. We are all acting as curators.

Listen in as faculty member Megan Staples discusses the challenges teachers face in online learning settings.

UCTV Sports’ Students of Storrs podcast interviews Doug Glanville, former MLB player, now sport management faculty at the Neag School, in a discussion on athlete activism and the intersection between sport and society.

Because reopening public schools in the coming school year will be fraught with unprecedented challenges, experts say, and education budgets may get cut to the bone, news of charter school startups and expansions will undoubtedly spark heated opposition from public school parents and teachers, even in well-to-do suburban communities, like Wake County, that may have been insulated from the financial costs of school choice in the past.