As you drive down Crailsheim Road, you cannot help but notice the beautiful new structure which is the Intermediate School. The new Intermediate School, which houses grades 3-5, has been a welcome addition to the community and District 518. This new school has allowed staff and students the space to meet the district’s educational needs.
Since the beginning of the school year, the Intermediate School has provided several wonderful opportunities for our students. One of the many things that the Intermediate School focuses on daily is social and emotional learning (SEL), which has been deemed Trojan Time at the Intermediate School.
The first 20 minutes of each day is dedicated for staff and students to collaborate with one another to discuss and practice monthly topics provided by our district's Character Strong program.
The preK-5 version of Character Strong is titled PurposeFull People. This program uses explicit, direct skill instruction designed to lead to three powerful outcomes: Be Strong, Be Kind, and Be Well. Teacher instruction centers around one character trait per month. These traits include respect, responsibility, gratitude, empathy, perseverance, honesty, cooperation, courage and creativity.
As stated above, the overall outcome for our students is for them to Be Kind, Be Strong, and Be Well. In order to be kind, we have placed an increased focus on social skills and conflict resolution strategies. Students will become strong by increasing their executive functioning and self-regulation skills, which are mental processes that help us become more focused, organized, and be able to set goals. Emotional regulation is a wellness strategy that has been focused on in order to help us learn how to be well.
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During our morning instructional time, our staff has done a great job integrating social and emotional learning curriculum, allowing students to engage in meaningful conversations and activities with their teachers, as well as their peers. As students are engaging in the daily lesson, teachers are embedding questions that allow students to dig deeper into character development.
We are very fortunate to be able to provide not only academic, but social and emotional support to each and every student that walks through our doors. We enjoy watching students apply what they have learned as they go throughout their day. The added focus on SEL allows us to truly put a focus on the needs of the whole child.
We feel grateful to have the opportunity at the Intermediate School to provide curriculums that produce students who excel academically, physically and emotionally/mentally. We look forward to continuing with our daily SEL time and providing opportunities for our students to grow in all areas in order to be successful as they grow older and go forward with their lives!
The Trust Project
