Dear Family,  

We want your child to be successful in school and that means supporting and encouraging their whole  development. While excelling in academic classes is important, children also need skills to take on  learning challenges, make good decisions, manage strong emotions, and get along with others.  

This week, we’ll begin Second Step® Elementary, a research-based social-emotional learning program  designed to improve children’s social-emotional skills. Second Step skills and concepts are designed to  help children both in and out of school. Four units will cover the following: 

Growth Mindset & Goal-Setting: Children learn how to pay attention and manage distractions,  develop a growth mindset, and apply goal-setting strategies to their social and academic lives.  

Emotion Management: Children learn how to identify and label emotions and use emotion management strategies—including stress management for older students—to calm strong feelings.  

Empathy & Kindness: Children learn how to recognize kindness and act kindly, have empathy for  others and take others’ perspectives, and recognize kind acts and empathy as important elements of  building and maintaining relationships.  

Problem-Solving: Children learn how to identify and state a problem, recognize if a problem is an  accident, and use the STEP problem-solving process:  

S: Say the problem  

T: Think of solutions  

E: Explore the outcomes  

P: Pick a solution  

You’ll receive weekly communications from your child’s teacher to help you reinforce Second Step  language, skills, and goals at home. If you have any questions about Second Step Elementary, please don’t  hesitate to contact me or your child’s teacher for more information. Thank you for your support as we  work to build a safe and supportive school community.  

Sincerely, 

Ms.  Cynthia Holcombe