The Hechinger Report is starting 2024 with some great news: We have a new executive editor. I’m thrilled to announce that veteran education reporter and editor Nirvi Shah, who was most recently education enterprise editor at USA TODAY, will be leading our newsroom.

Nirvi’s education reporting experience runs deep: She was the founding editor of the POLITICO Pro Education policy team, and she covered special education, school climate and culture for Education Week. Before that she reported on education for The Miami Herald and The Palm Beach Post. Nirvi also spent a year on a Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship.

We’re excited to have her on board as we begin a new year, with many important stories, including this look at the unmet mental health needs of Black and Hispanic girls and a potential solution that is showing great promise. As always, we want to hear from our readers and hope you can encourage others to join us in 2024.

Liz Willen, Editor

The mental health needs of Black and Hispanic girls often go unmet. This group wraps them in support 

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