Purple Star School Program
What is a Purple Star School?
A Purple Star School is a public or charter school dedicated to addressing the unique educational and social-emotional needs of military-connected children.
These schools understand that military-connected students often have to move whenever their active-duty parent receives a relocation order, known as a Permanent Change of Station. This frequent uprooting means they change schools far more often than their civilian peers.
A military-connected child can expect to move six to nine times between kindergarten and high school graduation, with around 200,000 students transitioning to new schools each year.
How They Help
Purple Star Schools support military-connected students in several ways:
- Staff Training: Designating a staff member to help students adjust to their new academic environment.
- Student Programs: Offering student-led initiatives to foster social connections.
- Family Resources: Providing a military family webpage on the school website to keep parents informed.
- Professional Development: Offering relevant training for additional school staff.
Some state programs require schools to meet additional criteria, such as hosting school-wide military recognition events to promote tolerance and inclusion. The primary goal of these programs is to help staff manage the challenges military-connected children face when moving between schools with different cultures, curricula, standards, course offerings, schedules, and graduation requirements.
Purple Star Schools pay special attention to students who arrive mid-year and miss the regular cycles of sports and club activities. They also recognize that every military-connected child has left behind friends and support networks and may be coping with a parent who is deployed.