Social Emotional Learning is integrated into the educational experience for students at Sycamore. We are committed to creating a school culture where students, staff, and community members feel safe, valued, and connected. The social emotional competencies that students develop are self awareness, social awareness, self management, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. 

 

Social emotional development occurs in four ways: Free-standing lessons that are explicitly designed to enhance students’ social and emotional competencies; integration of SEL learning from daily experiences, such as academic instruction and free play; school wide structures and supports, such as building classroom norms, individual student goal setting, and overall systems thinking; and teaching practices that include strategies to promote student reflection and building supportive and positive relationships in the classroom. 

 

In addition to social emotional learning, we care about exposing students to a variety of perspectives and experiences. Learning from and with peers helps students to understand and value others. One outcome of social emotional learning and perspective taking is a student's ability to embody empathy. As students develop social skills, think critically, make observations, and ask questions, they will learn to come to their own opinions. Our goal is not to tell students what to think but aid them in developing mindsets which allow them to draw their own conclusions. Sycamore students are given agency. They are empowered to take action as upstanders to solve the inequities and injustices they observe around them... at the school level, the community level, and beyond.

 

The Sycamore School is committed to creating an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment that fosters the growth and development of all students, staff, and community members regardless of race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and ability. We believe that diversity is essential to impactful collaboration and problem solving.