Initiating cell phone bans and new safety measures, providing mental health supports, and increasing parent engagement are just some of the offerings in big-city school districts for the 2024-25 school year. Here’s a city-by-city roundup of what’s new:

Albuquerque 
New Mexico’s Albuquerque Public Schools has installed a new crisis alert system at all schools which allows district staff to summon help from anywhere on campus. School employees will have badges that can be used to alert campus officials to an emergency or, in the event of a serious safety threat, to notify district police. The district has also launched “Let’s Talk”, a new customer service tool that makes it easier to ask questions, request information, or share feedback about district operations.

Anchorage
Alaska’s Anchorage School District is launching the Academies of Anchorage, designed to create areas of career focus or “pathways” in all Anchorage high schools. Students will choose the pathway that best fits their career interests and take electives related to that career field over the course of their high school journey. Pathways include a variety of industries and career options including Business and Innovation, Community Planning and Infrastructure, Leadership in Law and Business, Industry and Construction, Culinary Arts, and Welding.

Atlanta
Atlanta Public Schools is kicking off the 2024-25 school year under the leadership of a new superintendent, Bryan Johnson. The district is also piloting a new student mental health program that will be placed in five schools during this school year.

Austin
Texas’ Austin Independent School District is launching a new mobile app that will enable users to stay up-to-date with events, documents, news from administrators, student stories, and emergency notifications.

Baltimore
Baltimore City Public Schools is launching its new strategic direction, the Portrait of a Graduate, which includes the development of a core set of abilities that graduates must have to access higher education, have family-sustaining careers, and achieve postsecondary aspirations. The plan details how the district will provide resources, support, and opportunities to its students, putting them in a position to succeed during their time in the school district and after graduation.

Boston
In an effort to alleviate the shortage of bus drivers and improve transportation for students, Boston Public Schools is opening a new City Academy training facility in partnership with UMass Boston and located on its campus. The facility will be used to train participants enrolled in City Academy’s Commercial Drivers License (CDL) track and to support the training of 120 school bus drivers annually.

Broward County
As part of a new safety initiative, Broward County Public Schools in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., installed metal detectors at the entrance of its 38 high schools. The district is also launching the Focus Parent Portal which will enable parents to monitor their student's academic progress, stay informed of upcoming school and district events, and communicate directly with their students’ teachers.  

Charleston
Charleston County School District opened the 2024-25 school year with its approximately 3,600 classroom teacher positions filled. In June, the school board approved an $8,000 raise for all teachers, the largest raise in a single year in the district's history.

Chicago
The nation’s third-largest school district started this school year with 600 more teachers than it had a year ago, and 2,500 more teachers than in 2017. Chicago Public Schools also added 500 more educational support personnel, which include Teacher Assistants, Restorative Justice Coordinators, School Counselors, and Special Education Classroom Assistants.

Cleveland
Cleveland Metropolitan School District is relaunching the Get More Opportunities Fund (GMOF) 2.0, a revitalized initiative aimed at providing equitable, student-centered funding opportunities across all schools. Originally established through a $20 million gift from philanthropist Mackenzie Scott, GMOF has evolved to ensure that every school benefits from its resources. The enhanced program will allocate $4 million annually, with each school receiving a base allocation plus a proportional share based on enrollment. The funds will be used for initiatives that directly benefit students, including enhancements to learning environments, innovative educational experiences, and technology upgrades.

Dallas
The Dallas Independent School District is starting the new school year with nearly 50 electric school buses in its fleet, with the ultimate goal of  transitioning to a fleet made up entirely of electric school buses by 2030. The district is also expanding its book-vending machine initiative with a plan to install 27 this school year, which will bring to 60 the number of campuses across the district with vending machines. Each machine is stocked with 300 books and takes tokens, which are provided to campuses and given out by school team members to recognize good behavior and even birthdays. Students then use the coins to “purchase” a book of their choosing. 

Denver
Denver Public Schools adopted a new student discipline matrix that details when students can be suspended or excelled. The new discipline matrix has seven levels of offenses and spells out potential consequences for students’ behavior, ranging from stealing, destroying property, and verbal bullying, to bringing a gun to school.

Des Moines
As a result of a partnership with the Federal Communications Commission, Iowa’s Des Moines Public Schools is equipping its entire fleet of more than 135 yellow school buses with free Wi-Fi. The FCC recently announced E-Rate funding can be used for internet connectivity on buses and will cover 90 percent of the project cost. The Wi-Fi systems will not only allow students to connect to the internet, but will also enable cameras on buses to monitor emergencies, improving safety for everyone on board. The district is also launching “Parent University,” a new program developed with support from Google Fiber to provide families with hands-on technology training.

District of Columbia
The District of Columbia Public Schools is welcoming the first apprentices in a new teacher teaching program. The Apprenticeship in Teaching program provides cost-free pathways for paraprofessionals and high school graduates to become certified teachers in high-demand subject areas, including early childhood, elementary, or special education. The first cohort consist of 50 apprentices who will engage in on-the-job learning during the day while taking coursework in the evenings to earn bachelor’s degrees through the University of the District of Columbia.

Duval County
Duval County Public Schools in Jacksonville, Fla., is partnering with the City of Jacksonville to launch a new attendance campaign to combat truancy. The new initiative, Show Up to Shine, will use school-specific data to take a new, more comprehensive and effective approach to boost student attendance.

Fresno
California’s Fresno Independent School District is entering Phase III of its Every Child is a Reader initiative, launched last year to ensure all students learn to read by the end of first grade. Students will be monitored every quarter on how well they are reading, and those who fail to meet certain benchmarks will work with an intervention specialist to get them back on track.

Guilford County
Guilford County Public Schools in Greensboro, N.C., is launching a new program that will enable homeschool families to customize their students’ educational experience. GCS Flex will allow high school students who are homeschooled to take rigorous academic courses, earn career certifications, participate in sports and extracurricular activities, benefit from free mental and physical health services, and access free community college courses, all while maintaining their homeschool curriculum.

Hawaii
The Hawaii Department of Education is partnering with the Cook Center for Human Connection, a national non-profit family foundation, to provide families and staff with access to a 24/7 online platform that offers resources and support for student mental health. Through the platform, parents and school staff will have free access to resources such as regular one-on-one parent coaching, access to more than 30 mental health series virtual seminar, and online lessons led by licensed therapists.

Hillsborough County
Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, Fla., is partnering with BusPatrol in launching a new School Bus Safety Program to keep students safe as they enter and exit school buses. As part of the program, all buses that transport students will be outfitted with photo enforcement cameras to detect vehicles that illegally pass while the stop-arm is deployed and red lights are flashing. The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office will review the footage to determine whether to mail citations.

Houston
Houston Independent School District is beginning the 2024-25 school year with 45  New Education System (NES) schools, joining the 85 schools already participating. The program, which offers a rigorous curriculum, was created by superintendent Mike Miles to improve achievement at low-performing schools. Teachers get standardized lesson plans and receive support from aides and learning coaches.

Jackson
In an effort to attract and retain high-quality teachers, Mississippi’s Jackson Public Schools recently gave teachers the largest pay increase in district history. For the 2024-25 school year, teachers and other certified staff will see an increase in salary, based on individual experience and certification levels. The increase in salaries was made possible by the $18 million in additional revenues from the state legislature’s new funding formula.

Jefferson County
Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, Ky., has launched the new Journey to Success, a reimagining of the district’s Backpack of Success Skills initiative launched in 2018, as a way to provide more meaningful learning experiences for students. Journey to Success will feature student defenses of learning at key transition points—fifth, eighth, and twelfth grades—where students will use artifacts to demonstrate how they have met five key indicators of success. The initiative also introduces milestone checkpoints at all other grade levels, to ensure students are on the right path throughout their entire educational journey. 

Los Angeles
The nation’s second-largest school district is partnering with nonprofit organization EnCorps in a two-year pilot program to train, retain, and mentor new Career and Technical Education (CTE) teachers. The program will support 25 new CTE teachers each year through EnCorps’ training and pair them with 25 mentor teachers.  In addition, the district is launching the “5,000 Role Models of Excellence,” program designed to support male students of color, and is partnering with the University of Southern California to promote technology literacy. In January 2025, the district will implement a cell phone policy to restrict student use during the school day.

Nashville
Metro Nashville Public Schools will continue its partnership with the Metro Nashville Police Department to post community police officers at elementary schools. Several elementary schools will transition to having full-time, trained school resource officer (SRO’s), who will provide exterior visibility and support for schools as well as working with administrators to develop and monitor safety plans, promote positive relationships, and provide mentorship to students.

Newark
New Jersey’s Newark Public Schools is extending the school day with 20 more minutes of instruction time for K-8 students and 25 more minutes for high school students. District leaders say the longer school days will provide more student learning opportunities and allow increased tutoring time in elementary schools. The school district also created 338 new positions for the 2024-25 school year, 181 of which are classroom positions.

New Orleans
NOLA Public Schools is opening The Leah Chase School, the district’s first, direct-run traditional public school in 18 years. The school will provide more than 280 students in grades K-5^th with rigorous instruction, personalized support, and a focus on holistic development.

New York City
In an effort to ensure that all students develop math skills, the nation’s largest school district is launching the NYC Solves initiative, which will require high school math classrooms to adopt a single, uniform curriculum, while requiring middle schools to choose from a list of pre-approved curricula. The district is also offering a new Black studies curriculum for students in pre-K through 12th grade. Called the Black Studies as the Study of the World, the curriculum was created by the Black Education Research Center at Columbia University Teachers College’s, along with five other organizations, and will be funded by the New York City Council.

Orange County
Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, Fla., aims to become a nationwide leader in the Science of Reading, an evidence-based approach to how the brain learns to read, by providing equitable professional learning opportunities to all teachers.  The district’s elementary curriculum team created the “L.A.B.”   (Learning, Applying, Bridging the gap) to deepen teachers’ knowledge of research-based literacy practices. This curriculum and training gives teachers and administrators the knowledge and skills necessary to teach students using best practices grounded in research. The district also opened the Global Family Welcome Center to provide a centralized location for enrollment and transition services for students and their families who don’t speak English or are new to the United States.

Philadelphia
The School District of Philadelphia will reorganize its Learning Network structure to be geographically based for the 2024-25 school year. The new structure is designed to better serve parents and families, place resources closer to schools instead of the central office, increase engagement with grassroots and faith-based organizations, and accelerate academic achievement. The district is also relaunching its Parent/Family University and implementing a new English Language Arts curriculum, based on the Science of Reading.

Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh Public Schools is launching the new Emerging Educators Career and Technical Education program for students in grades 10-12 who are interested in exploring teaching as a profession. The program will provide students access to dual enrollment credits, industry-recognized certifications, and work-based learning opportunities.

Providence
Rhode Island’s Providence Public School District is opening four newly-remodeled elementary schools and five redesigned schools this fall, as part of a $1 billon long-term facilities plan. The redesigned schools will feature enhanced academic programs, project-based learning, and new opportunities for student engagement and success.

Richmond
Virginia’s Richmond Public Schools is expanding the number of schools that have a 200-day school year. The program began last year as a pilot at two elementary schools to help students catch up academically after the Covid-19 pandemic. Students improved so much academically that district officials will expand the program this school year to two more schools.

Rochester
New York’s Rochester City School District is implementing “Invest in Tomorrow,” a comprehensive school reconfiguration plan in which the district will implement a new grade structure for elementary (PreK-6) and high schools (9-12). Invest in Tomorrow is part of the district’s 2024 – 2029 Strategic Plan for ‘Activating Dreams and Unlocking Potential!,’ which was developed through extensive collaboration with students, parents, staff, and community members. The plan is designed to transform education in the district by setting clear priorities and goals to guide the vision for instructional excellence.

Sacramento
California’s Sacramento City Unified School District is adding eight instructional days to the 2024-2025 calendar. The learning recovery plan, created in collaboration with the Sacramento City Teachers Association, is an opportunity for the district to offer more classroom time to meet the academic, social, and emotional learning needs of students.

Santa Ana
California’s Santa Ana Unified School District is partnering with the University of California, Irvine School of Education to launch its first university-assisted partnership at an elementary school. The partnership between the university and James Monroe Elementary School was created to enhance the effectiveness of classroom teaching practices and improve academic outcomes. District officials hope the program can be replicated at other schools. The program also aims to create internships for UC Irvine’s student-teachers, career pathways for graduates of the School of Education’s degree and certificate programs, and professional development opportunities for current district educators.

San Diego
San Diego Unified School District is implementing the SD Unified for Democracy initiative, designed to promote critical-thinking skills and civil discourse. The project will make nonpartisan lessons and resources available for teachers, students, and families. In addition to online resources for the home and in the classroom, SD Unified for Democracy offers volunteer opportunities for students, field trips, and community resources. 

Seattle
Seattle Public Schools is partnering with the City of Seattle to strengthen and expand student safety and mental health support.  A $14.55 million investment – $2.3 million from the district and $12.25 million from the City of Seattle – will go toward hiring additional mental health counselors in schools, expanding access to telehealth therapy to more than 2,000 students, and hiring new Violence Intervention specialists to work in schools. The focused interventions will be piloted at the 11 high schools and middle schools with the highest rates of violence in and around their campuses. The district will also hire an Executive Director of Student and Community Safety to improve collaboration with first responders and law enforcement agencies in implementing a unified student safety plan.  

St. Louis
St. Louis Public Schools is welcoming 21 teachers from Ghana and the Philippines as part of an innovative cultural exchange program for the 2024-25 school year. The educators have been recruited to fill teaching positions in middle school science, middle school math, and elementary classrooms. They are serving in nine schools and will remain with the district for a minimum of three years before returning to their home countries. The district will welcome another 15 teachers in January 2025.

St. Paul
Minnesota’s St. Paul Public Schools is offering an elementary program for kindergarteners in Karen language and culture. The program at Wellstone Elementary will be taught by Karen teachers and district officials plan to expand the program to other grade levels in the future.

Toledo
Ohio’s Toledo Public Schools is opening a new $4.5 million Electric Vehicle Lab at Toledo Technology Academy of Engineering, which will not only provide ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certification opportunities for junior and senior students, but also training opportunities for current mechanics and displaced autoworkers. In addition, an $11 million expansion and renovation of the Natural Science Technology Center will allow the district to add seventh and eighth grades at the school. The district is also working on the expansion of the Toledo Pre-Medical and Health Science Academy at the Mercy College of Ohio campus, with classes beginning there in January.

Tulsa
Oklahoma’s Tulsa Public Schools is limiting student cell phone use for the 2024-25 school year. For elementary and middle school students, devices are to be turned off and put away from the time the student arrives on campus until school is dismissed for the day. For high school students, devices are to be turned off and put away during all instructional time throughout the school day. The district is also collaborating with the mayor’s office, community partners, families, and schools in a new campaign to address chronic absenteeism called “Attend to Win.”

Wichita
In an effort to attract families of students that have left public schools, Kansas’ Wichita Public Schools is piloting Creative Minds, a microschool for approximately 20 students in kindergarten to 6th-grade. Students will learn from one teacher in a hands-on, project-based environment and will not be divided into traditional grade levels but will be tested on district and state standards. District officials will evaluate the program throughout the year, and if it is successful, they will consider expanding it or creating new microschools.