NOTE: The following is a first-hand story about my family’s experience regarding last week’s tragedy at Oxford High School; my two children are enrolled in the district.  I am the co-director of a small group of secondary students (approx 100 6th-12th-graders) who are enrolled through Oxford’s Virtual Academy, but meet for in-person instruction two days/week.…

Hi Friends, I’m sharing a post from a mother at my children’s school; she posted this on Day 1.25 of our sudden transition to “homeschooling.” I was already overwhelmed, going a little loco… and her words were a breath of fresh air! She instantly snapped me into proper perspective.  Her message comes from a very…

Whenever life threw an exceptional curve-ball my way -one slathered in fear or grief- my late, great life-coach, Rob Berkley, would always advocate for… E X T R E M E  S E L F – C A R E ! If he were still with us today, I’m sure he’d be shouting this message…

Today, I want to honor the events of the past ten days. We were already in a period of extreme uncertainty, but that has grown deeper and far more poignant. I think we all feel “it” in our bones: The justice that has not been met. The wrongs that must be made right. It’s overwhelming…

Susan Kruger wrote this article for the Spring 2020 edition of ADDitude Magazine. See the article at ADDitude Magazine under the title, “If He Looses His Joy, Nothing Else Will Matter.”

The Top 10 skills identified by the World Economic Forum all involve social and emotional competence. And research shows that social and emotional skills and attitudes also contribute to the other skills such as critical thinking. To read the full report, click here.

Students who completed social-emotional learning interventions fared better than their peers who didn’t participate on a variety of indicators—including academic performance, social skills, and avoiding negative behaviors like drug use, finds the analysis, which examined follow-up data from dozens of published studies on specific interventions. To read the report, click here.

SEL interventions increased students’ academic performance by 11 percentile points, compared to students who did not participate in such SEL programs. Students participating in SEL programs also showed improved classroom behavior, an increased ability to manage stress and depression, and better attitudes about themselves, others, and school. To read the meta-analysis of 213 studies involving…

More than two decades of research demonstrates that education promoting social and emotional learning (SEL) gets results. The findings come from multiple fields and sources, including student achievement, neuroscience, health, employment, psychology, classroom management, learning theory, economics, and the prevention of youth problem behaviors.

My mother is a family physician with a specialty in substance abuse (certified by the American Society of Addiction Medicine). Over the years, we have many relatives who have battled addictions in one way, shape, or form, and Mom specifically pursued the additional certification to help them. Her interest in the issue is truly a…