Our work around social emotional learning (SEL) is rooted in the belief that when children feel safe and recognized in the classroom, they can excel academically. Social and emotional learning is the process of acquiring the skills to recognize and manage emotions, develop caring and concern for others, establish positive relationships, make responsible decisions, and handle challenging situations effectively. Our curriculum is deeply embedded in research and an understanding of the developmental needs of our students at various age levels.
Responsive classroom practices are used as the framework of our Social Emotional Learning in all classrooms. This program consists of teaching strategies for bringing together academics and social-emotional learning. It is based on the three domains of engaging academics, effective management, and positive community.
• The social and emotional curriculum is as important as academics.
• How children learn is as important as what they learn.
• Great cognitive growth occurs through social interaction.
• To be successful academically and socially, children need to learn a set of social and emotional skills that include cooperation, assertiveness, responsibility, empathy, and self-control
• Knowing the children we teach - individually, culturally, and developmentally - is as important as knowing the content we teach.
• Knowing the families of the children we teach is as important as knowing the children.
• How we, the adults at school, work together is as important as our individual competence.
In our classrooms you will see students socializing and collaborating around academic choice, class meetings that encourage connections, a “time out” area where students can gather their minds and bodies, teachers speaking in a positive and respectful way, the use of logical consequences, rules that were developed as a community around student hopes and dreams, students reflecting on their learning and thinking about their thinking, and teachers who are modeling expectations and setting clear paths to success.
