Grow Baby, Grow

From our community garden to the decision desk, Teller Elementary School is prioritizing the Social and Emotional well-being of our Black students.

Sabrina Bates • Cahn Fellow 2021

From the garden to the decision desk, Teller Elementary School has begun to prioritize and focus on our Black students’ social and emotional well-being. We identified the need to address the disparity in our social and emotional data by acting on a micro, mezzo, and macro level. We knew that a one-size-fits-all approach to Social and Emotional Learning would not ultimately address the concerns we had. We decided to think creatively and decisively, while engaging our staff and community in our efforts. Deepening our knowledge of the “why” has dramatically helped inform our “what.” This project served as a lesson in self-reflection and growth. As we approached this project, we knew that what we have been doing has been working for some students. The question remained, why hasn’t our programming been working for all students? In an attempt to answer this question, we broke our project into three major parts. First, we analyzed Fall 2021 Behavioral Emotional Systems Screener (BESS) data. Next, we looked at our Math and Literacy data. Finally, we created a game plan based on our Student Perception Survey to use interventions that addressed student concern. Through our analyzing and implementing, we made several changes to our overall programming and have seen very positive initial results. We plan to continue the implementation of all our new programming and will dedicate time and resources to the continued analysis and make key adjustments when needed.