Valedictorians:

Hundreds of teachers at religious schools around the state could soon be at risk of being laid off with no prospect of collecting jobless benefits.

School districts have begun enrolling children for next school year’s preschool and kindergarten-prep programs, and several parents may wonder whether their children are ready for such programs or even what their children could learn in preschool.

Mesa's Red Mountain High School Academic Decathlon team won the state competition, held Friday and Saturday at ASU West. The team garnered 48,408 points after competing in 10 events: essay, speech and interview plus seven written tests focused on mathematics, science, economics, language and literature, music, art and social science.

“No single person can train all the math and science teachers we’ll need to equip our children for the future,” (2013 president’s inaugural address).

Chandler’s own Hamilton High School made a name for itself last week at the Ten80 Student Racing Challenge event. The student team posted the fastest time among all 10 schools in the remote control car relay race. The Ten80 Education/U.S. Army event aims to teach students about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) principles that power seven-time Top Fuel Champion Tony Schumacher’s U.S. Army dragster.

Engineering, lessons on the elements of art in design and digital electronics could all lead to future careers for Mesa students.

A handful of Mesa Unified School District campuses could be converted next school year — one to house special needs programs and one to test creative education methods — under a plan proposed this week.

The first projects to be paid for by a recently approved $230 million school bond program in Mesa could include the demolition of Mesa Junior High School buildings and the purchase of 66 propane-operated vehicles, leaders said Tuesday night.

We are pleased to see that Gov. Brewer has prioritized resources for the implementation of Arizona’s Common Core Standards in her fiscal year 2014 budget.

Mesa’s Pilgrim Lutheran School is offering free tuition this semester to students in grades two through seven. The school, now in its 41st year, wants to give families that haven’t previously been able to afford it a chance to try out a private, Christian education.

Mesa school officials will analyze every campus to assess safety measures in the aftermath of the Newtown, Conn., shootings last month.

Sara Goheen, a junior at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, often folds placemats or straw wrappers into interesting shapes while she's waiting at a restaurant for the food to arrive.

Mike McClellan’s whining ("East Valley Voters Made Their Education Bed") about the defeat of various education funding measures conveniently forgot to mention that the largest measure, Mesa’s $230 bond request, passed. He also seems unaware that most public school teachers earn far more than most private school teachers, especially in the benefits area. Finally, despite inflation-adjusted per-pupil spending nearly tripling in Arizona since the early 1970s, we have very little if anything to show for it in terms of improved pupil achievement.

The story of the Greek mathematician Archimedes is one of those classic, basic things you learn in school. In the centuries since the time of the ancient Greeks, knowledge has grown exponentially. Yet the amount of time children spend in school — in many cases re-learning forgotten knowledge — in more recent years has remained relatively constant.

Teachers from Mesa and Higley unified school districts have been named Arizona Educational Foundation 2013 Ambassadors for Excellence. Lindsey Connor, a seventh-grade mathematics teacher at Gilbert’s San Tan Elementary School in the Higley Unified School District and Nancie Lindblom, an American history and government teacher at Mesa’s Skyline High School, are two of the five ambassadors vying for the “Teacher of the Year” title that will be announced Nov. 14.

Schools in Gilbert will receive a boost in math and science education thanks to a two-year Math and Science Partnership grant co-funded by the Arizona Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education.

As the state’s fastest-growing demographic group, Hispanics also are the fastest-growing market for Arizona businesses.

One Ahwatukee school is striving for student success through a principal mentoring program.

Reading, writing and math facts are becoming part of the routine in the Reese household each night as my older children sit down to do their homework.

Mesa police are considering charges against a man they say called 911 Thursday and made threats against people attending a curriculum night at Mesa’s Las Sendas Elementary School. According to police, the man said he had a high-powered rifle, that he would to shoot those in attendance and burn his house down.

Take note, Arizona high school students: There’s a new diploma in town.

Arizona students need better preparation for college, according to ACT scores released this week.

Arizona State University has entered into an agreement that will bring TechShop, a do-it-yourself workshop and fabrication studio, to downtown Chandler.