Dear Sope Creek Families,
As dedicated and committed educators we believe that every child should receive and benefit from a world class education. Our mission is to prepare our learners for 21st century life and challenges. The way to prepare them is through providing curriculum and instruction that is rigorous and relevant. Relevance makes the rigor possible for learners. However, without first building relationships neither relevance nor rigor are possible.
Rigor, relevance, and relationships are the “3 R’s for the 21st Century.” They are also the essence of the Highly Effective Teaching (HET) Model. We begin preparing our students for rigorous and relevant academics by first building a sense of belonging in our classrooms. We teach the Lifelong Guidelines and LIFESKILLS through daily town hall meetings and, most importantly, through modeling them every day in all our interactions with each other and with our students. Mirror neurons (simply put, that old adage ―Actions speak louder than words‖) are the most powerful teachers.The Lifelong Guidelines and LIFESKILLS are our agreements for how we want to be treated by others and our promise for how we will treat each other. There are five Lifelong Guidelines: trustworthiness, truthfulness, active listening, no put downs, and personal best. These are the qualities we look for in spouses, family, and friends. Personal best is comprised of the 19 LIFESKILLS. They are: caring, common sense, cooperation, courage, creativity, curiosity, effort, flexibility, friendship, initiative, organization, patience, perseverance, pride, problem solving, resourcefulness, responsibility, and sense of humor.
Teaching responsibility, which means ―to be accountable for one’s actions,‖ begins the first day of school, even for our kindergarten students! We teach our students what responsibility looks likes, sounds like, and feels like. As they learn to recognize the patterns for responsibility they eventually become mental programs, which they are then able to apply in real world situations. You can help build the mental programs for responsibility by allowing your child/ren to experience the natural consequences for forgetting homework or sneakers on PE day.
Bringing forgotten assignments, etc. to school does not teach your child to be accountable for their own actions. At Sope Creek, if a student forgets an item from home, we ask that the item stays at home. The student will experience the natural consequences, in a safe, nurturing environment, and learn a valuable lesson for life.
Join us in preparing our children for the 21st century challenges by modeling the Lifelong Guidelines and LIFESKILLS at home.
Thank you for all your support,
Martha Whalen, Principal
