The elementary school has been hard at work introducing Responsive Classroom to their building culture. The most recent initiative is the School Promise.
As members of this school, we promise to care about each other. We will help each other whenever we can. We promise to make our school a place of joy, discovery and respect. Above all, we will always try to never hurt anyone, on the inside or on the outside.
Teachers will be introducing the school promise as part of their morning meeting. Making sure students understand the words and the meaning behind the words is as important as learning the promise. The most important thing is for the students to understand the meaning of the promise and to make a connection to the Hopes and Dreams of the school.
You may have heard Responsive Classroom mentioned in other school communications. It is a powerful approach to creating a classroom culture of respect for the individual and learning. Our teachers have been hard at work learning practices such as The Power of Words, interactive modeling and classroom energizers. They are bringing these new terms and ideas into the classroom to help with behaviors, motivation and above all to improve learning.
What they are doing together in the elementary school is significant. It bypasses the simplistic solutions that people so easily gravitate to that have no lasting or intrinsic results but give people short term satisfaction for getting something seemingly done. Instead we are building a strong educational development process that will have a HUGE impact on our kids and our school community.
For more details on the progress of Responsive Classroom in the Elementary School, view the Board of Ed presentation by Mrs. Fancher and Mrs. McQueeney.