🛝 Trade Schools, AI in Schools, Secondary Students and Belonging

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…

• Trade Schools vs. College

• AI in Schools

• Secondary Students and Belonging

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

Kids Are Choosing Trade School Over College. This 20-Year Counselor Says They're Missing Half the Picture.

Christina Sanchez has been guiding Los Angeles high schoolers for over 20 years. Her latest observation? Students are ditching college dreams for trade school reality, and social media is driving the shift.

The numbers back her up. University enrollment has declined over the past decade while vocational programs are booming. At her Title I charter school in the San Fernando Valley, students increasingly see trades as the fast track to financial freedom.

Her alumni data tells a different story than the doom-scrolling narrative. Almost all college grads from her school work in their field.

Here's where innovators should pay attention. Sanchez identifies a massive gap: Schools provide almost zero real career exposure. Smart educators and entrepreneurs can build bridges between social media career fantasies and workplace realities.

83% of Parents Have No Idea Their Kids' Schools Are Using AI

"Where do we start?" is the question Robbie Torney from Common Sense Media hears constantly. Districts know AI is coming (or already here), but they're paralyzed by the complexity.

That's why Common Sense just dropped an AI toolkit for schools. One suggestions comes from a jaw-dropping data point: 83% of parents report that schools haven't communicated with them about AI policies.

The opportunity? Build parent-friendly AI literacy platforms that actually work. Not 50-page PDFs, but easy-to-digest explainers showing exactly how AI helps (or could harm) their kids.

Secondary Students Feel Like Strangers in Their Own Schools.

When Virginia Beach schools dug into their culture surveys, they discovered that secondary students didn't feel like they belonged. "Belonging needs to come before achievement," said Ty Harris, the district's director of opportunity and achievement.

When students don't feel they belong, everything else falls apart: attendance tanks, behavior incidents spike, and achievement plummets.

This is an opportunity for education innovators to build platforms and tools to help secondary students develop a sense of belonging.

We'll be back with another edition on Friday. See you then!

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