SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING
Fostering an environment where students feel welcomed, known, loved, and supported is essential for all other learning to take place.
Teachers implement systems and procedures to promote psychological safety in the learning process. Students feel comfortable to learn and grow from their mistakes as they work towards mastery. There is intentional focus on teaching core values and lifelong learning skills to support the academic formation of students.
Trojan Pledge
Through our whole child formation, we are forming students to be future leaders and saints of the world. The Trojan pledge highlights important values of character to live by as students journey through SJMV. Every day, the Trojan Pledge is said during our morning assembly. Every month, a trojan value is focused on and a student from every grade who embodies that value is acknowledged during the Trojan Award Assembly.
As a SJMV Trojan, I pledge to be:
Thoughtful with my words,
Responsible with my actions,
Optimistic in my views,
Just in my beliefs,
Ambitious in my achievements,
Nurturing to my neighbors, and
Supportive to all
Class Meetings
Daily protected time in TK-8th grade for building community in the classroom. These class meetings can help students feel safe to explore their emotions and concerns through low stakes activities such as:
Greeting: Students can say hello to each other in different languages
Sharing: Students can share their thoughts on a prompt, such as "Would you rather live on an island or on a planet in outer space?"
Activity: Students can participate in a short, fast-paced activity that builds academic or social and emotional skills Morning message: The teacher can share a message to set the tone for the day
These meetings can help students foster relationships with their peers and teachers as well as to build empathy, self-esteem, cooperation, and communication skills.
Flexible Seating
At SJMV, we deeply believe in supporting ALL students. Through research based-evidence and our own experience, we have seen the positive impact that flexible seating has on student learning. By allowing students to sit in different spaces around the classroom during collaborative or independent learning, students feel seen and safe, supporting them to be regulated and ready to learn.
Counseling services
With our deep belief in whole child formation, we have a counselor to help students develop skills, knowledge, and attitudes they need to succeed academically, socially, and emotionally. Our counselor can help students with getting acclimated if new to our school, setting goals, resolving conflicts, navigating social challenges, managing stress, and more!
Lifelong Learning Skills
In addition to supporting students in their academic learning journey, our formation supports students to acquire and apply knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions. These lifelong learning skills are explicitly taught, modeled, and discussed in class. Feedback on the progress of these skills are shared with students and parents through report cards every trimester.
Learn more about our school with a campus visit.