By Laurie Parker, School Counselor Grades 3-5
Growing the hearts and minds of our children is an exciting and challenging responsibility. As we approach the final few months of this school year, we take a moment to reflect and revel in the growth we have seen academically, as well as social and emotionally, throughout our school community.
Scheck Hillel Community School is proud to stand by our Zero Tolerance policy in respect to bullying. Our Mutual Respect protocol is an established and research-based program derived from the Capturing Kids Hearts curriculum created by the Flippen Group. The plan entails teacher-led lessons, adult supervision and early intervention protocol. Our counseling department oversees the implementation and reinforcement of safe environment protocol. This philosophy is and will continue to be the standard from Early Childhood up. The focus is on mutual respect among our staff members and our students. All staff members have been or are in the process of being trained and instructed so that mutual respect and "upstanding" is, and will continue to be, the standard throughout our school.
Our philosophy is based on this premise: “If you capture a kid’s heart, you capture his or her mind.” Every child is - and will be - greeted and acknowledged each day for the positive assets they bring to our classrooms. Teachers, together with our students, will create social contracts defining the expectations of mutual respect we represent. The discussion will also involve the specific protocol we follow if the contract is not upheld. Our program also focuses on strengthening the bystander so that they learn to be “upstanders” for their fellow Hillel community members. The implementation and commitment to our Mutual Respect Program will insure that each and every one of our students feels valued and confident and, as a result, growth is inevitable. Our Scheck Hillel staff looks forward to the journey together. As we grow minds, we will also grow hearts.
Chag Sameach from our family to yours!