September

Tier 1 SEL School-Wide Programming

The counseling department at Mitchell coordinates and supports school-wide social-emotional learning and mental health initiatives that serve all students. Mitchell supports social-emotional learning for all students in several ways: though weekly SEL lessons in the classroom using the evidence-based Second Step curriculum, adherence to Responsive Classroom techniques and principles to create student-centered classroom environments and approaches discipline, and the availability of counseling services to all students in need of social, emotional, or behavioral support. This year, Mitchell will be implementing an additional Tier 1 SEL initiative to support all students in building needed skills for academic achievement, social success, and overall health and mental well-being. 

The program will contain several components: the first is a monthly Community Meeting that introduces the SEL theme for the month to all students. Students will learn about the theme through read-alouds, activities, or videos to help students understand the importance of the month’s theme.  Community Meetings provide an opportunity for students and teachers to come together and share ideas, strengthen relationships, set goals, and build a sense of togetherness. Students learn to translate classroom behavior expectations into audience behaviors, practice leadership and public speaking, and grow a vision of themselves as contributing members of a larger community. The second component of the program will be a school-wide activity for all students to participate in across the month to support the theme. The third component of the program is additional classroom activities in support of the theme to offer students additional practice and opportunities to explore the theme within their smaller classroom communities. The final component is a family newsletter to support the home-school learning connection and provide families the opportunity to reinforce the monthly theme with students at home.

September's Theme is: Community!

September’s theme is Community, defined for students in several ways, such as a group of people who live or work together, have things in common or believe the same things, or follow the same rules or practices. Families, religions, teams, and countries can all be examples of communities. Mitchell is an intentional community with its own values and practices. At Mitchell, we prioritize taking care of ourselves (being positive, managing our feelings, asking for help), taking care of our space (following rules, cleaning up, using materials appropriately), and taking care of each other (being respectful, being inclusive, showing kindness).

What Research Says

Research shows that “by making the time to build the relationships that allow learners to feel a sense of community–that they are ‘in this together’–teachers create a safer, more equitable environment where all students participate and achieve" (CASEL, n.d.). Furthermore, students in schools and classrooms with a strong sense of community are more likely to:

• Be academically motivated 

• Act ethically and altruistically

• Develop social and emotional competencies

Prati & Cicognani investigated the relationship between sense of school community and well-being among students in a longitudinal study published in 2021. The researchers defined sense of school community as "the students' feeling of belonging to the school as a community, the emotional connection with other members of the school community, and their perception of having opportunities for satisfying needs and influence through such membership" and well-being as "a multidimensional construct encompassing the presence of positive functioning in individual life (psychological well-being) and community life (social well-being) as well as of positive feelings (emotional well-being) which, together, constitute positive mental health." Their study, which measured levels of student well-being over time, found that students' well-being was positively correlated with a strong sense of school community. In other words, students who felt connected to their school communities reported higher levels of well-being across multiple domains. The authors concluded: "School sense of community determines individuals' well-being because it satisfies psychological needs relating to belonging and membership . . . it provides emotional safety, sense of identity, coping efficacy, and positive relationships" (Prati & Cicognani, 2021). Building a strong sense of school community is not done without effort and intention, prompting our first month's focus on re-engagement with our guiding principles as a school community as we enter the new year. Students will explore the meaning and value of community as it relates to their new classrooms, grade-level, and the broader learning environment at Mitchell.

CASEL. (n.d.). Community-building. CASEL.org. https://schoolguide.casel.org/focusarea3/classroom/a-supportive-classroom-environment/community-building/; Prati, G., & Cicognani, E. (2021). School sense of community as a predictor of well-being among students: A longitudinal study. Current Psychology, 40(2), 939+.

Throughout the month of September, students will focus on community by:

• Learning the rules and routines of their classrooms

• Learning and remembering the rules for common spaces like recess and lunch

• Getting to know their classmates and teachers

• Noticing the ways in which they take care of themselves, others, and their space at Mitchell

School-Wide Activity