All Students. Our Students.
Vision: The Joseph Sears School is committed to achieving the four tenets of our Portrait of a Sears Graduate for all students: Fearless Learner, Creative Thinker, Compassionate Citizen, and Courageous Advocate.
Mission: Using an integrated system of teaching and learning, develop experiences rooted in best practices that foster the growth of all students to achieve the Portrait of a Sears Graduate.
Philosophy
The Joseph Sears School is a JK-8 Public School and is accountable for developing student mastery of the Illinois State Standards, including the state Social and Emotional Learning Standards.
Program Description
Through our programming, we aim to build a Culture of Care by establishing a safe, healthy, and inclusive community and a learning environment that empowers all students to develop the Portrait of a Sears Graduate skills of becoming a Courageous Advocate and a Compassionate Citizen.
Social and emotional learning standards are embedded in policies, practices, and lessons throughout the students’ day. The foundation of our social and emotional curriculum is the Caring Schools Community (CSC) program. CSC is a comprehensive, research-based social and emotional learning program that builds a school-wide community, develops students’ social skills, and enables a transformative stance on discipline. This program design guides students toward becoming responsible, principled, and humane citizens who feel connected to and invested in their community. By building caring relationships, directly teaching social skills, creating calm and orderly learning environments, and leading students toward developing self-discipline and intrinsic motivation, this program promotes positive behavior, responsibility, empathy, and cooperation, creating settings where students feel heard, known, and cared for. Lessons are organized around weekly themes aligned to the five core social and emotional competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, social relationship skills, and responsible decision-making.
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