A stay in a corrections facility—often hours away from home, school, and everything that is familiar—is a shock to the system for any student. But studies show girls are significantly more likely than boys to enter the juvenile justice system with a history of all types of abuse and neglect—including a four-times-higher risk of sexual abuse. Juvenile facilities like the Wyoming Girls School are exploring ways to reengage students both academically and emotionally, and help them think of themselves as students again.
Education Week reporter Sarah D. Sparks and photographer Kristina Barker profiled the Wyoming Girls School as part of a special report on teaching vulnerable students.
Here’s a deeper look at their reporting–















![Students are escorted to and from all buildings around campus. It can be a tough transition for some students leaving the tiny classes and structured schedule of the facility to return to their old—or a brand new—school. “I know places like the Girls School help kids take the blindfold off and say, ‘Here’s the path you are on; it doesn’t matter what happened before, you can move on,” said Bernie Ourth, district attendance officer for the Natrona County school district in Casper, Wyo., who helps returning students make the transition back to school. “But these kids maybe struggled academically before they got in trouble; they are carrying a lot of luggage. I think the human connection with these kids is critical. If they don’t have a connection with an adult in that [school] building, their odds of success are greatly limited.”](https://epe.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/e3ce89a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/900x600+0+0/resize/335x223!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fepe-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fa0%2F3c%2F299c4030485da70dcfce14103e7b%2F16-wyoming-girls-school-students-exterior.jpg)
