Welcome to Playground Post, a bi-weekly newsletter that keeps education innovators ahead of what’s next.

Here’s what we have on deck for today…

1. Student mental health’s effect on schools

2. Schools are ditching 1000s of edtech apps

3. What school closures mean for innovators

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Be a judge → Vote for your favorites and see if you can spot the next education unicorn before everyone else.

Student Mental Health: Crisis Meets Cash Crunch

Four in 10 high schoolers report feeling persistently sad or hopeless in the wake of the pandemic and schools are feeling the strain, with 87% reporting negative impacts on students' social-emotional well-being.

Compounding this, school psychologists are often swamped, with an average ratio of one psychologist for every 1,127 students. Just as awareness and need are peaking, around $1 billion in federal grants aimed at boosting school mental health pros is disappearing.

This funding gap means schools need cost-effective, high-impact solutions. There's a clear opportunity to develop scalable programs, smarter screening tools, and resources that empower the existing staff.

Edtech's Great Cleanup: Schools Ditch Thousands of Apps

The pandemic drove schools to buy digital tools at a frantic pace. Now comes the reckoning.

U.S. school districts used an average of 2,739 edtech tools last year. That's like having 2,739 hammers when you only need a few good ones.

Districts are now finding shocking waste:

• Oklahoma City discovered a $37,000 literacy program nobody had used

• Another district found $16,000 in unopened smart podiums gathering dust in a cabinet

• Massachusetts schools cut $100,000 in redundant tools (and plan to double those savings)

The opportunity?

Help schools build leaner, more effective digital environments that prioritize actual learning over shiny features.

The School Closure Paradox: Less Students, Even Fewer Closings

New Brookings Institution data shows the national school closure rate dropped from 1.3% in 2014-15 to just 0.8% in 2023-24. "I think it's important for people to realize how rare school closures are," says researcher Sofoklis Goulas.

Seattle announced 21 school closures, then canceled the entire plan. Pittsburgh suggested closing 14 schools, then hit pause. San Francisco and Chicago both backed away from closure plans.

One expert bluntly summed up why: "Districts are so bad at this."

There lies an opportunity for innovators: creating tools that help schools maximize resources without shutting down buildings.

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We’ll be back with another edition on Tuesday. See you then!

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