Have you been hearing the buzz about the importance of SEL? Have you read that Emotional Quotient (EQ) can be more important than one's Intellectual Quotient (IQ)? Have you seen the surveys and research that indicate the skills most needed by employers (but largely absent in applicants) are highly related to SEL and are the skills needed for 21st-century jobs?

It may appear from your Twitter, FaceBook or Redit feed that SEL is a new concept that schools are just learning about and starting to implement. While I'm glad that SEL is in the spotlight it's not new to our staff or students.

According to the Office of School and Public Instruction, "SEL is broadly understood as a process through which people build awareness and skills in managing emotions, setting goals, establishing relationships, and making responsible decisions that supports success in school and in life."

We've been providing lessons and learning opportunities for Social Emotional Learning (SEL) here for a long time. This was in place long before I started working with WSD over a decade ago. In my time here I have worked hard alongside the staff making adjustments and improvements in implementing meaningful and relevant SEL opportunities throughout my school, grades K-5.

Pretty much every aspect of my job revolves around supporting our students and their journey of Social Emotional Learning.

• Click on any of the above tabs and you'll see specific details of programs, curricula & resources that all support our implementation of SEL

SEL skills are being taught directly at all grade levels. Teachers have access to the Second Step Social Emotion Learning lessons which cover themes represented in the above posters: Empathy, Understanding Strong Emotions, How to Calm Down, Problem Solving (& younger grades learn about Skills for Learning). For specific information about what your child will learn at his/her grade level click here to follow links to your child's grade level.

Feel free to talk with your teacher for more details.

More recently our teachers started using a new SEL curriculum called Harmony. There are multiple lessons and activities designed to build essential social emotional skills in our students. Check out their webpage for more details. Feel free to talk with your child's teacher to clarify which program s/he is using or to ask for more details.