(Chelsea Update would like to thank Lisa Nickel for the information in this story.)
For the last four years, the Chelsea School District has worked very hard to develop the Portrait of a Graduate.
As mentioned in the previous article, our social and emotional work has been essential in the support provided to students. When the Portrait of a Graduate was created, the stakeholders and staff decided to focus equally on the outcomes in each of the three areas: academic, social and emotional.
In this article, we will share an overview of the efforts surrounding the social emotional arena at each level.
Each level focuses on providing proactive support and training for staff. Professional development provides staff with tools in their tool box to assist students in managing strong emotions, conflict resolution and developing resiliency. Strategies are embedded into daily instruction as well as provide targeted instruction and interventions for select groups of students.
Below you will learn about a few of the highlights from each level.
Preschool
Yes, we start early in developing skills in the social emotional area. The preschool curriculum is High Scope, which has several developmental areas such as literacy and math but also places a strong emphasis on developing social skills.
If you have questions about the social and emotional supports for preschool, please contact Lisa Nickel at [email protected]. Additional strategies and interventions include:
- 6 Steps Conflict Resolution Process
- Parent Forums and Training to support the development of social emotional skills
- Classroom libraries that have books that support social emotional learning
- Targeted lessons for developing resilience and problem-solving skills
North Creek Elementary School
The work continues with our Y5-2nd graders with an emphasis on being a bucket filler. Each classroom begins the day with a social emotional lesson during the class meeting.
If you have questions about the social and emotional opportunities at North Creek, please contact Kimberly Gillow at [email protected].
Additional strategies and interventions include:
- Mindfulness Mondays
- Growth mindset focus during instruction
- Frequent brain breaks throughout each day
- Bucket filler strategies with a focus on respect, responsibility, and safety
South Meadows Elementary School
SEL work for our 3rd through 5th graders at South Meadows builds upon the foundation that was established at North Creek.
Using daily classroom meetings, SEL journaling and additional independent and small group meetings, the staff at South Meadows, led by our Social Worker and School Psychologists, work together to assure that we are supporting our students in their efforts to take more active ownership of our guiding principles: Respect, Responsibility, Safety and Kindness.
If you have questions about social and emotional support at South, please contact Stacie Battaglia at [email protected].
Additional strategies and interventions include:
- SEL Journals
- Restorative Circles
- Mindfulness Lessons
- Growth Mindset focus during instruction
- Why You Matter/Wish You Knew Activities
Beach Middle School
Our Beach students are going through many physical, social, emotional changes. The staff are continuously focusing on the whole student in their supports.
The building guiding principles of Respect, Integrity, Teamwork, Responsibility and Dynamic Learning serve as our building pillars in support of our Portrait of a Graduate outcomes.
If you have specifics about the Beach opportunities, please contact Nick Angel at [email protected].
Additional strategies and interventions:
- Trails program in partnership with the University of Michigan
- House/Advisory Lessons with an SEL and POG focus
- Restorative Circles and Practices for corrective behavior outcomes
- WEB mentoring (Where Everyone Belongs)
- Ele’s Place partnership-Ann Arbor
- Project Success Coordinator – Chelsea Hospital
- Peer to Peer in partnership with the University of Michigan
- Why You Matter program
- SAGA student group
Chelsea High School
The Counseling Department, Social Worker, and School Psychologist work in conjunction with the administrative team to provide social emotional support for each of our students.
Each of these staff members who are focused upon student mental health have undergone in-depth trainings and development in this area. These teams meet regularly to discuss specific student needs and specific supports. The Social and Emotional supports are shared with all teaching staff and incorporated into daily instruction.
If you have questions about specific SEL supports at CHS, please contact Mike Kapolka at [email protected].
Additional strategies and interventions:
- Link Crew
- New Student Group
- Why You Matter
- Grief Groups
- Restorative Circles and Practices
- SAGA student group
- Supports for students using CBT and DBT lessons
- Peer to Peer
- Project Success Coordinator
- Academic Learning Lab
- Student Services weekly meetings
- Weekly SEL videos shown to all students
As is evident by the above lists, it’s pretty amazing to see the opportunities that our students are provided to learn and grow socially and emotionally. We are proud of the work each of these professionals who are engaging in training to better support your students.
Recognizing that behavioral consequences are only one avenue in bringing about positive change for the school climate has been a big paradigm shift.
We know that proactive instruction as well as providing consequences that allow for learning and growth play a key role in developing strong social and emotional skills in our students.
Our last article will feature our future steps that we hope to accomplish to further our work in this area.
