• SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING OVERVIEW
     
    Educating and nurturing the whole child is a foundational component of who we are as a Catholic school.  Our focus on the whole child is designed to provide our children with exceptional academic and life skills that lead to success.  We are excited to introduce an addition to our approach that will strengthen the social and emotional development of our children.  
     
    A growing number of educators and researchers recognize that students who receive a purely academic education may not be fully equipped for future challenges, both as individuals and members of a new, global society.  Through social and emotional learning, children's emotional intelligence is bolstered, giving them an enormous edge in their personal and professional futures.  [1]
     
    WHAT IS SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING?  
     

    Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) is a process for helping children and even adults develop the fundamental skills for life effectiveness. SEL teaches the skills we all need to handle ourselves, our relationships, and our work, effectively and ethically.

     

    They are the skills that allow children to calm themselves when angry, make friends, resolve conflicts respectfully, and make ethical and safe choices.

     

    Social and Emotional Learning can include directly teaching children these skills, using existing academic curriculum to highlight and teach important life skills, and building a school environment that continually fosters and promotes these skills by the very nature of how adults and children learn to interact with each other. [2] 

     
    WHAT DOES SEL MEAN FOR ALPHONSUS ACADEMY? 
     

    First and foremost, Social and Emotional Learning aligns with and reinforces the moral, spiritual and social values at the core of Catholic education. 

     

    Additionally, given the extensive Social and Emotional Learning research that demonstrates significant increases in standardized test scores, improvements in productive relationships, and decreases in disruptive behavior, it is now clear that SEL should become a more central aspect of learning for AACA students, parents and faculty.