Dear St. Louis Families,
With all the increased stress and burden on our school families, coupled with the social isolation of our children from their friends and teachers, we know that the social-emotional skills of our children have been adversely impacted. In addition, the global pandemic and school closures have caused sudden and extreme changes to their daily routines. It is with this in mind that we are adopting SEL Fridays. Our goal is to be intentional and equitable for all of our families in order to help create some space and breathing room in our busy weekly schedules. SEL Fridays are all about picking and choosing the right activity based on your child’s needs. There is no specific model of SEL Fridays in a school setting, rather it is a philosophy as well as a mindset shift based on best practices that many Catholic schools within our diocese are adopting in order to better attend to the development of the whole child. We recognize that our SEL Fridays will need tweaking as we go forward and get a better feel for the needs of our students. Please bear with us—our goal is about providing flexibility in our week based on family needs.
What the School Day Will Look Like
SEL Friday will have a variety of options for every student and may not look the same in each household, which is okay with us—that is what it is all about and why we are so excited to incorporate it into our e-Learning. The big thing to know and understand about SEL Fridays is that no new instructional work will happen, but that doesn’t mean that learning won’t be happening! In fact, SEL Fridays are still a school day for our students. We will begin with morning announcements and 8:45 Virtual School Mass, followed by pick/choose lessons and activities.
How to Plan Your Day
1) Does your child have classwork or homework that he/she missed from this week or previous weeks that needs to be finished and/or submitted to their teacher(s)?
- Yes - Work on those now.
- No - Pick/choose 1-2 activities from the Specials Board. Make sure to color in the square when completed.
2) Has your child turned in all his/her class work and completed 1-2 Specials activities this week?
- Yes - Pick 1-2 activities from the SEL Activities list.
- No - Pick/choose your Specials activities and work on those now.
3) Does your child have a small group meeting with the Mrs. Cotnoir and the Counseling team? Or, with Mrs. Cucinotta, Mr. Gerke, or Mrs. Reeder? Or, a Title 1 meeting with Mrs. Shuey? Or, a small reading group (for K-3 only)? Or, a check-in with his/her teacher?
- Some of these meetings in small groups will be happening on SEL Fridays and parents will be notified ahead of time by the appropriate personnel if it concerns your child.
4) Do you just need a break today?
- Then take what you need…do what you can and are able to as determined by your individual family’s needs.
The positive development of social-emotional skills is vital given our current circumstances, and we are committed to ensuring that we are giving appropriate time to those important skills. Research shows that no learning can happen if a child is not socially and emotionally equipped. We are grateful to partner with you in support of our academic e-Learning and are hopeful and encouraged that our SEL Fridays will allow our students to successfully continue #GrowingInChrist.
Peace,
Anne M. Dyke
Principal
