As schools across the nation work, often for the first time, to ensure a welcoming environment for students who are transgender, California has lessons to share, according to educators, advocates and students.

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Report finds court schools ineffective for juveniles. Most California schools for students detained in the juvenile justice system don't have staff that are trained to deal with difficult student conduct or effective curriculum to get students on track for graduation, according to a report from the Youth Law Center. Education is "critical" for these at-risk students and according to advocates, "the failure of the state's court schools represents a lost opportunity of stunning proportions."

Hindu students, Christian America: Hindu American students speak out about being bullied because of their faith and being subjected to Christian proselytizing by classmates in a new report from the Hindu American Foundation. The report, based on an unscientific survey of 338 students, called for teacher training and revised textbooks. Yashasvini Bathula, an 11th grader in Pleasanton, wrote that she is proud to wear the bindi, a spiritual symbol worn on one's forehead, but in 6th grade, students teased her. Textbooks, she said, "are evidently not doing a proper job...I want Hinduism to be understood, rather than being stereotyped and ridiculed."

Both California's experience and the latest academic research validate the view that fewer suspensions and improved campus climates are critical drivers of academic achievement and school success.

During the past several years, California has reduced out-of-school suspensions by nearly 40 percent, while academic achievement (as measured by the Academic Performance Index) increased.

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Bring on the salad bars. Need a salad bar? Let's Move Salad Bars to Schools, an initiative of the Chef Ann Foundation, the United Fresh Start Foundation and the Whole Kids Foundation, is encouraging schools to apply for salad bar grants. Dozens of California school districts already have received the salad bar grants, including Arcata School District in rural Northern California, Porterville Unified in the Central Valley and San Ysidro School District in Southern California.

House Bill would restrict 'community eligibility.' With the renewal of the federal Child Nutrition Act still under discussion in Congress, a new version of the act, known as H.R. 5003, would make it more difficult for schools in high-poverty areas to use a simplified procedure, known as community eligibility, to qualify all of their students for free or reduced-price lunch. The new version was proposed by the House Committee on Education & the Workforce.

A new media campaign to get girls to see themselves as physically and mentally strong starts with a video of girls playing ice hockey. "When I'm out there being aggressive, it makes me feel like I can do anything," said Ramella, a 7th grader, on the video. The campaign, sponsored by the Clinton Foundation and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, promotes girls as tenacious, tough and competitive. It aims to keep girls active and offers ideas and a list of expert consultants for school staff to talk about physical education classes, alternatives to taking away recess as a disciplinary measure and after school games that are fun and lively.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that children and adolescents ages 6-17 have at least 60 minutes per day of physical activity.