What if school could be re-imagined?

And, what if that re-imagination included making every student feel welcome? As well as involving their families in the education process, while facilitating classroom community-building for educators?

That's Dr. Kara Stern's goal.

An expert in EdTech subject matter, Kara serves as Director of Education and Engagement for Ridgeland, Mississippi-based educational technology company SchoolStatus. Her background, as an education professional, has included serving as Executive Director of nonprofit Math for America, as well as both a classroom teacher and a principal.

Drawing on her experience as an educator, Kara has designed a number of resources--many of them free!--designed to promote student success and decrease absenteeism.

Among these are her newsletter templates for educators, available on the Smore platform, as well as applications aimed at reducing chronic absenteeism on School Status' resource library.

Kara talked about the creative journey which led her to design these applications, explored one possible scenario in which a teacher could involve students more fully in their own learning and offered a look at the ways a classroom or school newsletter could work well for a busy educational professional.