Woven into the fabric of our daily interactions at school, our Strive for Five school values provide the foundation for Social and Emotional Learning at PCDS.
Integrity, Responsibility, Respect, Teamwork and
Compassion serve to inform the ongoing dialogue between teachers and students, among colleagues, between parents and teachers, and among students themselves, aimed at building safe, meaningful, and productive relationships to best support teaching and learning in our community. School wide, we make use of the teaching tools and core practices of
Responsive Classroom to support the development of our students' relational skills.
Social and Emotional learning is one of the five major areas of development assessed through the Creative Curriculum used in our Early Childhood classrooms and is part of the three narrative portfolio reports produced annually in both Preschool and Jr. Kindergarten. Beginning in Kindergarten, each child’s semester report card includes teachers’ assessment of students’ progress in developing social and emotional skills. Homeroom teachers and specialist teachers alike provide narrative feedback on student progress and areas of relative strength and ongoing development. At the Middle School level, students meet daily in small advisory groups with a faculty leader to consider social, academic and community development.
School-wide objectives for Social and Emotional Learning, as follows, are the basis of this regular assessment of student progress toward:
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Solving conflicts constructively
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Communicating opinions and feelings effectively
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Demonstrating respect of self, others, school spaces and equipment
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Accepting responsibility for one’s own actions
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Demonstrating perseverance in academic and social situations
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Accepting alternative perspectives and handling frustration effectively
- Working collaboratively and including others