Caring School Community: Core Principles

Scientific Basis  |  Research Results  |  Core Principles  |  Recognition
Academic Performance  |  Student Behavior

Four principles are at the heart of the Caring School Community program:

Respectful, Supportive Relationships

Stable, supportive relationships with peers and adults create a sense of safety and belonging for the students, allowing them to take the risks that true learning entails. Mutually respectful relationships among teachers and between families and the school enable communication and coordination in the students’ best interests.

Opportunities for Collaboration

Students learn to work with others through opportunities to collaborate in academic group work, community service, tutoring, and other realms. By doing so, they cultivate both concern for others and the motivation to work for the welfare of others.

Opportunities for Autonomy and Influence

When students have a genuine say in the life of the classroom and school, they become committed to the decisions they help to make and feel responsible to the community they have helped to shape.

Emphasis on Common Purposes and Ideals

When a school community deliberately emphasizes the importance of learning and of behaving humanely and responsibly, students have standards of competence and character by which to live and learn.

Ultimately, these principles are factored into decisions about school policy, pedagogy, structure, and content and are embodied in the myriad choices that every member of the school staff makes every day.