Children enrolled in Milwaukee Public Schools’ year-round schools should be in school all day, every day – starting with “Day One,” the very first day of school. Research shows that students who increase attendance also increase their academic success.

MPS schools on the year-round calendar have a shorter summer break but longer fall, winter and spring breaks. Students spend the same number of days in school.

• The Alliance School of Milwaukee (9-12)
• Community High School (9-12)
• Congress School (K4-8)
• Nathaniel Hawthorne Elementary School (K4-5)
• Ralph H. Metcalfe School (K4-8)
• River Trail School (K4-8)
• Marvin E. Pratt Elementary School, formerly Silver Spring Elementary School (K4-5)
• Frances Brock Starms Early Childhood Center (K3-K5)
• Frances Brock Starms Discovery Learning Center (1-8)
• Wisconsin Conservatory of Lifelong Learning (K4-12)

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Milwaukee Public Schools: This summer, three Milwaukee Public Schools students will compete nationally in a showcase of Career and Technical Education students.

Barack Obama School of Career and Technical Education (BOSCTE) students Trevion Brownlee, Adrian Ellis and Maurice Pulley – along with their coach Dave Kontz – are headed to Louisville, Kentucky later this month for the 52nd annual National Leadership and Skills Conference (NLSC).

They will also compete against nearly 6,000 other students from across the country in the SkillsUSA Championships. At the national championships, students work against the clock and each other, proving their expertise in occupations such as electronics, computer-aided drafting, precision machining, medical assisting and culinary arts.

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Urban Milwaukee: Margaret Holtgreive, a teacher at Milwaukee Public Schools‘ Ronald Reagan College Preparatory High School, is the Wisconsin high school winner of National History Day’s Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Award.

The award recognizes teachers for “outstanding creativity, commitment and inspiration in developing student interest in history education.”

Now Holtgreive is in the running for the National Patricia Behring Teacher of the Year Award.

The national award is given to one grade 6-8 teacher and one grade 9-12 teacher who has shown according to the National History Day organization.

The state honor comes with a $500 prize and national winners earn $10,000 to recognize “their outstanding efforts to encourage and support history education.”

Teachers can be nominated for the awards by their administrators, peers — or they can apply themselves. To qualify, teachers must participate in the National History Day Contest and demonstrate excellence in the classroom. Winners are chosen by a team of teachers, administrators and historians. “Their work must clearly illustrate the development and use of creative teaching methods that interest students in history and help them make exciting discoveries about the past,” the organization notes.

“It’s a great honor to be recognized by an organization that’s providing such a strong, project-based educational opportunity for students,” Holtgreive said. “National History Day brings history to life for our students.”

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Milwaukee Courier: A 9th-grade student at Milwaukee Public Schools’ Milwaukee High School of the Arts won the “Rising Star” award from the Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) this month.

Jonah Roth, 15, bested seven other nominees from around the state.

The singer-songwriter, guitar player and harmonica player and his bands have played festivals and venues large and small in Milwaukee, from Summerfest’s Youth Showcase to coffee shops to Chill on the Hill in the Bay View neighborhood.

He also plays with the Milwaukee High School of the Arts (MHSA) Jazz Combo.

“Jonah truly is one of the most promising ‘Rising Stars’ I have worked with in 17 years with the WAMI organization,” said Barbara Wagner, an MPS teacher who is also a member of the WAMI Advisory Board. “He is more than deserving of this recognition.”

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CBS.com: 35 Milwaukee Public Schools students will compete in two of the nation’s top speech and debate tournaments after besting local competitors at regional tournaments, including one this past weekend, according to a release from MPS.

The MPS students include competitors from Lynde and Harry Bradley Technology and Trade High School, Rufus King International High School, Golda Meir School, Milwaukee High School of the Arts and Ronald Reagan College Preparatory High School.

Among the 35 winning MPS students, 19 have earned the right to attend the 2016 National Speech & Debate Tournament (NSDA) in Salt Lake City, Utah in June, most after taking top spots at the Southern Wisconsin regional speech tournament April 9 at Reagan. Twenty-eight of the students have qualified to attend the National Catholic Forensic League (NCFL) Grand National Tournament in Sacramento, CA. Memorial day weekend.

Twelve MPS students have qualified for both tournaments.

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CBS58.com: A Milwaukee fourth grader showed her slam poetry skills to the world on Monday night.

“In 20 years I’ll be in college getting my education that’s how I can make the world a better place, proud protective and passionate I am Pashia,” said Pashia Bowens.

Last week, we introduced you to Pashia Bowens.

The Lafollette student is one of just 15 across the country invited to New York City for the America scores National Poetry Slam.

The after school program has been at Milwaukee Public Schools since 2004.

It uses soccer and poetry to create a positive learning environment.

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Milwaukee Community Journal: Six Milwaukee Public Schools students now have something in common with creative icons including Richard Avedon, Ken Burns, Joyce Carol Oates, Sylvia Plath, Robert Redford and Andy Warhol.

The six are winners of national Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, earning national medals in categories from painting to science fiction/fantasy writing.

The winning MPS students’ entries were selected from among a record-breaking 320,000 works of art and writing. Fewer than 50 students from Wisconsin were among the national winners and one MPS student, Lilian Solheim of Milwaukee High School of the Arts, won two awards: gold and silver medals for her entries in painting.

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There are schools in America intent on breaking away from the norm.

From an “off-the-grid” school that relies on solar panels to classrooms in a public library, there are countless schools reimagining education.

Startup Noodle has released its first ever Innovative Schools report, which identifies 41 public, private and charter K-12 schools that rise above the rest. Launched by Princeton Review Founder John Katzman, Noodle provides educational resources to parents and teachers, and it spent the last year examining 140,000 schools to come up with this list.

Alliance School founded in 2005 in Milwaukee is a charter high school that calls itself the first in the nation with the explicit mission to reduce bullying.

“50% of our students identify as LGBT,” said cofounder Tina Owen, who opened the school with a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Most of the school’s 196 students experienced bullying or harassment at previous schools. But those aren’t the only challenges they’ve faced. As much as 76% of the students are from low-income families (some are also in foster care) and 28% have disabilities.

Owen said the school’s philosophy is infused into the curriculum and into extracurricular activities.

“We teach them about different cultures and communities to raise their awareness, and our students also go to schools in the area to spread our anti-bullying message,” she said.