Over the course of this year I will be sharing with you reflections on our school’s core values. My article in March explored the first of five core school values, “Futuro Verde: Always connected, forever evolving”. Today, I will be sharing reflections on our second core school value.
Futuro Verde: Feeling safe and comfortable to be ourselves helps our learning to thrive
Student well-being is an essential component to the educational experience. When a student feels safe and comfortable throughout their day at school they are more able to access their learning and acquire and internalize new concepts and enduring understandings. School safety includes being free from physical, social and emotional harm and it is an integral aspect to school leadership and design. Student comfort should include the ability by all students to feel accepted and understood by their teachers and peers and to also have an internalization of the school procedures, traditions and routines and to come to expect consistently how the school environment will be. When these conditions are in place, students not only learn and grow, but they thrive!
At Futuro Verde we are fortunate to be situated in the middle of the countryside and jungle. We have secure campus infrastructure and because our students are encouraged to take risks and explore their natural environment they are well-equipped to keep themselves physically safe. Our commitment to active staff supervision during all structured and unstructured times of the day ensures that adults are present to guide, correct and encourage. Our strong social-emotional structure at school includes whole school commitment to mindfulness, reinforcement of our learner profile throughout all aspects of student life, democratic and reciprocal processes of student-teacher engagement, and restorative justice approaches to behavior management. Through our Peace Practices and multi-age learning with Buddy Classes, our students feel connected to one another, they come to deeply know each other and they learn to interact and engage with one another under a pretext of respect and understanding. Our staff are highly qualified and then are trained and supported regularly in their ongoing professional development needs. This school-wide, professional focus on calibration and collaboration among all Futuro Verde staff leads to the consistency and coordination that allows for a predictable and stable learning environment for all students.
This is why students who learn at Futuro Verde can be described as thriving in their learning environment and we are proud of our structures, the articulated support systems we have in place, and our prioritization of student well-being throughout all ages and stages of the educational process!