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Social-Emotional Learning Standards

Orland School District 135 has been working on establishing clear and consistent objectives for our Social and Emotional Learning Standards as prescribed by the State of Illinois. Goals for our students include the following:

  1. Students should be able to develop self-awareness and self-management skills to achieve school and life success.
  2. Students should be able to use social awareness and interpersonal skills to establish and maintain positive relationships.
  3. Students should be able to demonstrate decision-making skills and responsible behaviors in personal, school, and community contexts.

Therefore, a Social and Emotional Committee met throughout the course of the 2016-2017 school year. Three committees were formed, representing the primary, intermediate and junior high levels. The committees consisted of a teacher representative from each grade level, social workers, media specialists, and junior high health teachers.

Their goal was to bring the SEL standards into the regular classroom. In the past, the social worker was primarily the implementer, coming into the classrooms to discuss lessons in an isolated fashion. For the 2017-2018 school year, the classroom teacher will be the primary implementer for explicitly teaching these standards. The main resource for the District will continue to be the Second Step materials as provided by the Committee for Children. By using this resource, the District will have consistent and cohesive materials from Early Childhood through Eighth Grade.

Besides utilizing the Second Step materials, the District is now using the Bullying Prevention and Children Protection Units for grades K-5. The Bullying Prevention units of study will be covered by the school psychologists. In the units, there is a focus on recognizing, reporting and refusing bullying, understanding cyber bullying and bystander power.Similarly, the Children Protection Units, as dictated by Erin’s Law, discusses ways for students to stay safe, never keeping secrets and appropriate and inappropriate touches. These units of study will be taught by the school social workers.

Clarifying the standards for each grade level is just the first part of the work that is being completed by the School District. Next, our work will include the development and utilization of a universal screener for behavioral concerns, which is similar to the screeners we use for academics. Following that, the district will be establishing  Tier 2 and Tier 3 interventions for those students who need additional behavioral supports.