Social and Emotional Learning at Polaris
What is Social Emotional Learning?
According to the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, or CASEL: "Social and emotional learning is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions."
The five main components set in the center of the SEL "wheel" seen here provide a framework for our lessons. These concepts are taught through intentional classroom guidance lessons, during homeroom morning meetings, on the playground through guided conflict-resolution conversations and during small groups or individually during times of challenge. As a school for gifted children, we understand that our students may experience asynchronous development and struggle differently with some of these concepts. Our SEL lessons are developed and taught with this in mind.
Pyramid of Support
What kind of social and emotional support can my child receive at Polaris?
We recognize that gifted students often require a more deliberate and targeted tier 1 SEL instruction in the classroom. Students participate in lessons to strengthen their skills and learn strategies to develop their emotional intelligence. Topics have included: coping skills, positive self-talk, friendship skills, growth mindset, bullying prevention, gratitude, self-regulation, and conflict resolution.
At Polaris, we use the Random Acts of Kindness curriculum in all of our classrooms to align our goals to meet the tier 1 SEL needs of our students. The themes of this curriculum are woven throughout all aspects of our school in an effort to create a kind, compassionate and caring community of learners.
Sometimes a teacher or parent might identify an area where a student seems to be lagging in a specific skill in a way that is affecting their ability to demonstrate their best in the classroom. When this happens, a student may be referred to a tier 2, weekly small group to work on strengthening skills among peers who are also working on the same skill. Small groups can be focused on areas like: self-regulation, managing anxiety, executive functioning skills, developing and maintaining friendships, self-esteem, social skills, and others.
Students who have IEPs or 504s occasionally have mental health support written into these plans. Our mental health team works with these students to ensure they have individualized tier 3 support so they are able to be successful in the classroom and achieve their goals.
We also know that students bring an invisible backpack filled with a variety of challenges, struggles and worries to school every day. We are here to support all of our Polaris Stars when personal or family issues bubble to the surface or when a student is just having a difficult day.
