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NEW ORLEANS — Around the country, about one in five children suffer from a mental health disorder. In New Orleans, experts say that figure is higher, given the trauma induced by Hurricane Katrina and the city’s violence.

Having a mental illness makes it that much harder to concentrate in class. And, as the Hechinger Report and the Lens reported recently, many of these children struggle to find appropriate counseling and other services in the New Orleans schools and the broader community.

Still, some of the city’s schools are doing what they can to help children with mental health needs. 
Here’s a close look at how one charter operator, ReNEW Schools, is working with its most troubled students.

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