As we begin the 2023/24 school year, SEL continues to be a focus for our school community. Walter Lee school continues to reinforce and teach being PAWSitive with each other and in the community. 

At Walter Lee, we are engaged in a 2nd year of work supported by the Richmond school district through an inquiry project focused on ways to effectively teach strategies to regulate emotions.  Questions asked to the students are:

1. How often are you able to pull yourself out of a bad mood?
2. Once you get upset how calm are you able to stay?
3. Overall, how much do you feel like you belong at school?

Through our scanning, our students still find it challenging to respond in respectful ways when they feel injustice, anger and frustration.  Part of learning about SEL is to help our students develop language to express their feelings that allow for strategies for effective conflict resolution.

In October, Walter Lee staff organized into year-long collaborative learning groups that will meet regularly throughout the school year.  The programs to help guide our learning groups include:

• SD38 social responsibility lessons
• Zones of Regulation
• Mind-up

Our goal for this collaboration time is to build effective language to allow students and staff to manage conflicts in a positive and learning-focused way.