At Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Atlanta, the name above the door is more than a tribute. It’s both a reminder and an expectation, calling on educators and students alike to live up to Dr. King’s legacy. Here, academic rigor and character are not separate goals, but inseparable…

A School Where Students Learn to Speak With Care Mary G. Porter Traditional School in Woodbridge, Virginia, serves about 685 students in first through eighth grade. It is a public specialty school in Prince William County where families apply to enroll, parents commit to volunteer hours, and siblings get priority…

John Doedyns Elementary School in San Juan, Texas, sits about ten miles from the Mexican border. The school serves close to 400 students in a bilingual, dual-language setting. Many students have been enrolled since pre-K. Others arrive midyear as migrant families move through the region. Counselor Raquel Duberney-Guerrero, now in…

Returning to the Golden Rule At Howard Middle School in Macon, Georgia, kindness champions Patrice Thurman and Donna Burner are helping students come back to something deeply familiar and always worth teaching again: the Golden Rule. In a school of 1,000 students, that shared focus matters. It gives students and…

Kindness Begins Here At Hollister Early Childhood Center in Hollister, Missouri, the Tiger Code is simple: Be Kind. Be Safe. Be a Learner. The building serves children from infancy through first grade, and in a community where school can be one of the most stable places in a child’s day,…