We cannot expect or even hope that young people will excel academically if we do not provide them with classrooms and schools that are at once invigorating and nurturing. It simply makes no sense to apply higher academic standards while ignoring factors that clearly hinder students' capacity to learn. The structural, environmental, and social problems plaguing school operations have to be addressed so that our youth can perform at the highest levels. Leaking ceilings, broken chairs and desks, missing door locks, out of order bathrooms are inexcusable in an environment where we expect high academic achievement. World class schools cannot be marked by violence, threats, and assaults upon teachers, students or administrators.

Given all the distractions permeating schools, care must be taken to ensure that students feel not only safe and secure inside and outside of their classrooms, but that they also feel free enough to actively engage in curricular and extracurricular exercises. This means effectively monitoring and managing the social and peer pressures facing young people during and after school hours. Administrators must actively partner with persons and organizations that can assist with domestic, emotional, and psychological challenges that students bring to school with them each day. It means collaborating with professionals who can serve as mentors, coaches, tutors, and even funding partners. If we don't get a handle on some of the negative externalities that are hurting schools, then we risk every honest effort to produce healthy and productive school settings for school age youth in communities everywhere.