Out-of-school time: "A supervised program that young people regularly attend when school is not in session. This can include before- and after- school programs on a school campus or facilities such as academic programs (e.g., reading or math focused programs), specialty programs (e.g., sports teams, STEM, arts enrichment), and multipurpose programs that provide an array of activities (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)." https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/ost.htm
This process helps schools create an environment that supports students in developing the academic, social, and emotional competencies that they need to navigate the world.
Support staff in modeling SEL competencies, mindsets, and skills throughout the school community.
Belonging and Emotional Safety
When teachers build the structures that support belonging and emotional safety, they lay the groundwork for students to focus on learning (Sergiovanni, 1994 in Darling-Hammond et al., 2017).
Align schoolwide systems, policies, programs, and practices to promote SEL for students.
Focus Area 2: Continuous Improvement Connections
A safe and supportive school climate is an important factor for improving academic, behavioral, and mental health outcomes for students (Thapa, 2013).
Develop a coordinated approach for supporting students’ social and emotional learning across the school, classrooms, homes, and communities.
Collaboratively develop a shared vision for schoolwide SEL that is communicated to the entire school community, informs planning and implementation, and is revisited regularly.
Support staff in cultivating personal social and emotional competencies and fostering the competencies of peers and students.
Professional Learning Communities
Professional learning communities provide an important opportunity to integrate SEL into existing practices, work collaboratively on the goals of schoolwide SEL, and cultivate their own social and emotional competencies.
Establish Discipline Policies that Promote SEL
When discipline policies and practices are supportive, developmentally-appropriate, and equitable, they reinforce SEL and support stronger relationships, student engagement, and equitable outcomes.