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Academics
Lower School
Social-Emotional Learning
Be safe, be kind, be honest, be ready to learn
Our commitment to social-emotional learning differentiates our Lower School, and is a major component of our wellness program. Supporting students in understanding their relationships is at the heart of the program.
Through a purposeful approach to developing the whole child, we ensure that our Lower School students are ready to learn through our community compact goals of being safe, being kind, being honest, and, ultimately, being ready to learn. Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) objectives are achieved through a commitment to individual social skills within the spirit of community building. Students receive regular instruction in the language and actions of social communication, which is a primary component of their Wellness program/classes and is then purposefully connected to homeroom and exploration class experiences through integrated activities as well as teachable moments.
At the foundational level, the Lower School Wellness curriculum encompasses various methods by which our students learn wide-ranging skills which have proven to be as critical to life success as various academic skills. Besides SEL objectives, these include, but are not limited to Health Education, Movement Experiences,Yoga4Classrooms, Peace Table resolutions, Safety Awareness, Executive Functioning Skills, and Academic Support. Each of these component parts offer students direct instruction towards and strategies for self-management in the interest of self-understanding, social awareness, and responsible decision-making.
Essential Questions
Ultimately, we focus on SEL programming because we know that it promotes individual growth, nurtures compassionate and empathic citizens, and develops a trusting, caring classroom and school community where students are comfortable taking appropriate risks in their thinking and related actions.
Skills and Enduring Understandings
The Responsive Classroom approach helps inform and guide our SEL objectives. This program consists of a set of classroom management and teaching strategies based on essential overarching principles, including: The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum and How children learn is as important as what children learn.
Our SEL approach also focuses on pragmatic skills including eye contact, noise level, personal space, body language, tone of voice, feedback, turn taking, staying on topic, positive comments, and clarification. Instruction involves the application of these skills to relevant school-day situations, with the ultimate program goal of promoting age-appropriate problem solving and empathic development beyond the specific instructional setting.
Finally, the Zones of Regulation curriculum further supports our SEL programming. Through this curricular approach, students learn to understand and self-regulate emotions through four different behavioral states (or zones). Skills, strategies and methods support student movement within these behavioral zones, intentionally supporting students’ movement towards and regulation within the more productive and purposeful zones.
Responsive Classroom Practices
List of 5 items.
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Morning Meeting
gathering as a class each morning to greet one another, share news, and prepare for the day ahead. -
Positive Teacher Language
using words and tone as a tool to promote and guide children’s active learning, sense of community, and self-discipline. -
Logical Consequences
responding to misbehavior in a way that allows children to fix and learn from their mistakes while preserving their dignity. -
Guided Discovery
introducing classroom materials using a format that encourages independence, creativity, and responsibility. -
Peace Tables
supporting inter-student conflict resolution through a routine that supports students meeting at a classroom-designated Peace Table to discuss and problem-solve following a sensitive playground or classroom interaction.
Teacher Profile
List of 3 items.
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Marilena Canuto
Physical Education and Wellness TeacherRead More
My name is Marilena Canuto, and I am the Director Of Physical Education. I teach pre-Kindergarten through fourth grade physical education classes; coach Middle School: girls’ soccer, girls’ basketball, and girls’ Softball. -
Sarah Feldman
PK-8 CounselorRead More
I grew up in Bowdoin, Maine, and my family still lives in the area. I’ve practiced elementary and middle school counseling in Baltimore, and most recently in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. -
Ellie Summers
Academic Support Coordinator
Learn more about Berwick or start the enrollment process by completing the form below:
Berwick Academy
31 Academy Street
South Berwick, Maine 03908
Contact:
Admission | 207.384.6300
Main Office | 207.384.2164
South Berwick, Maine 03908
Contact:
Admission | 207.384.6300
Main Office | 207.384.2164
Berwick Academy, situated on an 80-acre campus just over one hour north of Boston, serves 520 students, Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 and Postgraduates. Berwick students are from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and several countries. Deeply committed to its mission of promoting virtue and useful knowledge, Berwick Academy empowers students to be creative and bold. Berwick strives to graduate alumni who shape their own learning, take risks, ask thoughtful questions, and come to understand and celebrate their authentic selves.
