The School Committee unanimously approved the adoption of a brand-new social-emotional learning curriculum for grades K-12 at its meeting last Thursday.
Research began this past summer, when Instructional Coach Angela Graziano and Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Julia Ferreira worked with a team of school administrators to participate in a comprehensive review of the SEL curriculum. After thorough discussion and analysis, Ferreira said, the team decided on a program called Wayfinder.
“We are confident in Wayfinder’s ability to help strengthen and grow our students with social-emotional skills because of the way that they work and dedicate the time to design and make a product for all students with age-appropriate content that will resonate with our students, as well as an easy implementation process for educators,” Ferreira said.
In an attempt to find a program that had strong reviews from parents, teachers, and students, Graziano and Ferreira found that Wayfinder had been positively reviewed on several platforms, such as Common Sense Education and CASEL.
“Wayfinder believes that a sense of purpose and belonging is what helps drive students’ well-being and their connectedness and their sense of belonging,” Ferreira said. “The curriculum themes support students to meaningfully connect with their inner selves, their local communities, and their wider world.”
Graziano and Ferreira said they believe that Wayfinder will help students gain a deeper understanding of their sense of belonging and identity, which they think is important for navigating the real world. Each lesson will focus on different themes related to building a sense of self and will be catered to a specific grade level.
“A big benefit of this program is that it was developed with high-schoolers in mind,” Graziano said. “We know that middle-schoolers and high-schoolers are some of the hardest to address, and so it’s nice to have a program that was developed with older learners in mind, but the younger grade lessons are very engaging and appropriate as well.”
After a thorough presentation and conversation, the School Committee approved the implementation of Wayfinder. Both Graziano and Ferreira expressed their excitement for what they believe will be a promising social-emotional curriculum for all students.
