SCHOOL WEBSITE

PROGRAM(S) PARTICIPATED IN: Sprint 2014, Solution 2014-2015

TEAM

Olimpia Bahena, Principal
Kristen Thelen, 5th + 6th Grade Language Arts and Social Studies Teacher.
Joan Leber, 7th + 8th Grade Language Arts

ABOUT THE SCHOOL

School Type: Selective enrollment
Grades served: 9-12
Enrollment: 933

PROBLEM

Lack of social emotional intelligence skills is a problem for middle school students because they are distracted from their learning, they are unable to communicate effectively, and they are unable to see situations from others point of view.

HOW MIGHT WE…

Help our students build their social emotional toolkit to improve interpersonal relationships and increase concentration on academic studies?

SOLUTION

We determined that there is room for expansion in the way students are learning at school. We created a prototype where the whole school focuses on a different social/emotional learning topic every month. Teachers lead a mini-lesson on the targeted social/emotional topic during their homeroom classes to reinforce and deepen the school-wide initiatives.