At Chapel, the social-emotional curriculum is as important as academics. Chapel teaches, evaluates, and promotes behaviors that support a safe environment with a focus on community, inclusion, and social responsibility throughout. We believe that the way a child learns is just as important as what he or she learns, that these processes go hand in hand. Education of excellence provides academic knowledge but must also develop personal responsibility for behavior, development of self-reflection and the ability to resolve conflicts.
Chapel sets high standards for conduct and positive interpersonal relationships while supporting students to become socially intelligent through systematic social emotional curriculum. Our approaches to teaching value and include the deliberate teaching of social-emotional skills through advisory classes, morning meetings and direct conversations with educators and counselors. This instruction is an integral part of class schedules and significant time and resources are dedicated to significantly support student social and emotional well-being.
From Pre-1 through 6th grade, the Responsive Classroom (RC) program sets the tone. It all starts with the morning message and meeting, and throughout the day, teachers use the language and methodology of RC in the classroom. CARES (Cooperation, Assertiveness, Responsibility, Empathy, and Self-Control) skills, which students need to be academically successful and in their lives, are acquired by age-appropriate methods. There are also specific classes for these skills that are part of the program: Caring and Sharing (in the ECEC), CARES (Grades 1 to 5), and CARES for Life, for 6th Grade.
In the High School, social-emotional skills are developed in the Advisory Program and IB Creativity, Activity and Service (CAS) Program. The Advisory Program (grades 7-12) is a weekly “break” in the hectic and demanding academic routine of students to reflect on their lives, personal actions, community needs, and cultural diversity. In the IB CAS program (11th and 12th grades), Chapel students are invited to put into practice, in real situations, the set of values, skills, and behaviors that they have learned and practiced since Pre-I through Chapel’s character education curriculum. They identify the needs of the community and the global challenges with which they are personally involved (e.g. sustainable development, human rights, etc.) to address them through personal projects. They also engage in various extracurricular activities that prioritize creativity, activity, and community service.
