About the Caring School Community Program

The Caring School Community Program (CSC) consists of four components that work together to build the whole school community:

• Class Meetings – Whole class meetings where teachers use facilitation skills to engage students and give them a more meaningful voice in the classroom. Students learn how to set class norms and goals; create plans, make decisions and solve problems related to classroom life and instruction; and learn how to better understand and empathize with other students through real experiences.
• Cross-age Buddies – Activities that create respectful relationships between older and younger students. Students learn how to give and receive help and how to experience themselves as caring and competent individuals through content instruction activities.
• Homeside Activities – Activities that create a cycle of learning that connect the classroom and the home. Students learn the experiences and perspectives of other families and cultures.
• Schoolwide Activities – Whole school collaborative activities that can be used to promote academic growth and school wide community, and link students, parents, the school, and the community-at-large. Students learn how to help and take responsibility, how to collaborate with one another and how to appreciate cultural differences.

Research

Studies have shown that the most effective classrooms and schools are those with a strong sense of community – where children feel they have some influence or control over their behavior and where others care about and are responsive to their needs. Students who feel connected to their school perform better academically and are less likely to engage in problem behaviors than their counterparts who feel disconnected from their school. Educators and researchers say:

• Children thrive in caring school communities
• Children learn when their basic needs are met
• Students’ connectedness to school affects their behavior
• Competitive situations make learning more difficult
• Children seek social support to learn the skills of their culture