As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2021 graduating seniors over the coming days.

As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2021 graduating seniors over the coming days.

As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2021 graduating seniors over the coming days.

As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2021 graduating seniors over the coming days.

As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2021 graduating seniors over the coming days.

As Commencement approaches, we are featuring some of our Neag School Class of 2021 graduating seniors over the coming days.

Thanks to 889 individuals, the Neag School of Education garnered more than $50,000 in contributions during this spring’s annual Giving Day at UConn.

The pandemic has presented a variety of different challenges, many of which are exhausting to cope with. The University of Connecticut’s Alumni Relations hosted a panel titled “Not Burnout, Betrayal: The Pandemic’s Impact on Working Mothers.” Panelists, along with an array of other women, discussed various struggles that mothers are facing today.

“As many schools in the U.S. figure out how to safely and fully resume in-person instruction, much of the focus is on vaccinations. But there’s another type of ‘vaccine’ that may be beneficial for some returning K-12 students that could be overlooked. Those are known as ‘behavioral vaccines.'”

For educators, families, and communities, April is bringing a welcome sign of hope to a year of unchartered challenges as political unrest, COVID-19, social and racial disparities, and violence have disrupted and dismantled our schools’ traditional approach to education. The appointment of Miguel A. Cardona as the 12th Secretary of Education and the passing of the American Rescue Plan of 2021 does make it feel like spring, in fact, has sprung. The possibility of equitable school environments for our nation’s children appears tangible, however, recovery must attend to more than filling holes with intent to return to a “new normal.”

Students desperately need support as they try to overcome current challenges to academic learning, physical health, and social-emotional connection. Meanwhile, school leaders must focus on coordinating policies and practices that put equitable structures in place for every child. While the necessary federal leadership and funding provide necessary first steps to tackling multiple points of support to the education infrastructure, we propose that schools reopen not with a “new normal,” but a “better normal” — one where we carry out only a few highly effective actions really well.