Open Circle

Ongoing since 1987

Program Director: Kristen Handricken

The Open Circle Social Competency Program is a comprehensive multi-year social and emotional learning program for elementary school (grades K-5) children, their teachers, principals, and parents. The program recognizes the important role that relationships play in the academic and social success of children and works to support caring, respectful school communities with high expectations for all students.

At the Program's core is the year-long, grade-differentiated Open Circle Curriculum — with accompanying training for teachers and other adults in the school community — which fosters positive relationships, a cooperative classroom environment, and skills in solving interpersonal problems. The Open Circle Curriculum's core lessons cover topics such as listening, calming down, speaking up, dealing with teasing, recognizing discrimination, expressing anger appropriately, reaching a consensus, and a six-step problem solving process. Lessons are taught twice a week for 15 to 30 minutes throughout the school year in the context of a class meeting known as Open Circle — a name that describes how students and teacher arrange their chairs to include an extra seat for anyone who wishes to join.

The Open Circle Social Competency Program has identified goals for all participants — teachers, students, school administrators, and parents. The Program will:

Strengthen the social competency and facilitation skills of teachers and enable them to effectively implement the Open Circle Curriculum in their classroom.
Provide students with structured, safe, and consistent environment in which they can develop their communication, self-control, and interpersonal problem-solving skills and enhance relationships with their peers and adults.
Strengthen the social competency skills of school administrators and enable them to support the implementation of the core components of the Program, to model its basic principles in their relationships with students, faculty, staff, and parents and to work collaboratively with the entire school community to develop school-wide initiatives.
Familiarize parents of participating children with the approaches, objectives and vocabulary of the Open Circle Curriculum and enable parents to effectively apply its principles to improve their parenting skills.

www.open-circle.org

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