| Welcome to
the new school year at South Valley Middle school! We’ve had a
great start and I look forward to the rest of the year.
Parents and guardians often ask what they can do to help their child or the school. There are several opportunities to be an integral part of the Knight family.
Our Principal Mr. Angus |
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Our Counselor Ms. Johnson
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A bit of information from Ms. Johnson, Counselor |
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| Today’s
children face many demands. They must learn to achieve academically,
work cooperatively, make responsible decisions about social and health
practices, resist negative peer and media influences, and contribute
constructively to their families and communities. They must also
interact effectively in an increasingly diverse society and acquire the
skills, attitudes, and values necessary to become productive workers,
neighbors, and family members. Many of the skills that enable children
to meet these demands derive from social-emotional learning.
Social-emotional skills include self-awareness, caring about oneself and
others, taking another’s perspective, setting pro-social goals, and
managing emotions. Children and adults who have these social-emotional
competencies are much more successful in life, both professionally and
personally.
The school has a significant role to play in the development of social-emotional skills. Both prevention and intervention strategies address the range of children’s needs. At South Valley, our prevention program, entitled Second Step, provides a proactive classroom and school-wide skill instruction to all students. Our out-of-school suspensions have dropped dramatically over the past six years. Second Step has allowed us to use a common language as well as provide a basis of understanding that we have adopted in addressing our school-wide issues. Addressing issues and teaching social skills proactively to all students creates a foundation for school-wide change. When all students learn and use the strategies within the regular class room, pro-social behavior can and is becoming the school norm. Second Step is a research -based program that targets skill deficits that put children at risk, not only for violence but also for substance abuse, suicide, and dropping out of school. This universal program focuses on developing empathy in children, teaching emotional management and impulse control, goal setting and problem-solving strategies. Second Step has won many prestigious awards, including an exemplary rating from the U.S. Department of Education, their highest honor. We are beginning Second Step, a program designed to increase social skills and reduce violence among young people. This program teaches problem-solving and other skills needed in getting along with others and resisting peer pressure. We want you to know about Second Step so that you can continue to reinforce the classroom learning at home. This program is divided into five units:
A parent video is available in both Spanish and English. This video is designed to help parents reinforce the social-emotional competencies of empathy training, emotional management and impulse control, goal setting, and problem-solving that are taught in school. If you would like to learn more about Second Step, please contact Ms. Johnson at SVMS.
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