Message from the Principal: April 16, 2019

core values graphicDear Families,

Do you know our Baldwin Core Values? You’ve probably seen them if you’ve had the chance to come to Baldwin, but what do they really mean in practice? Did you know that our schoolwide values are for our entire community, including families? Check out our Baldwin Core Values along with a description of what each means, and some of the work we’re doing. How do you see the core values in practice every day? How do you reinforce them at home? What are other ways we can keep them alive?

Joy
We are thinking often about how to engage students in joyful learning. We encourage teachers to engage students in learning that is hands-on and related to the real-world. Our field trips as well as joyful events like STEM-Day, Poetry Night, Math Carnival and the Art Show help us make instruction joyful, too!

Effort
We work really hard to praise students for their hard work, perseverance and effort and NOT just the final answer or product. In this way, we ensure students understand that the process of learning is as important as the outcome. Reinforce this at home!

Growth
Every class engages in cultivating a growth mindset in students. Learn about growth mindset, in a short video here and and read A LOT about it here and learn about the power of YET! We want to be sure students know deeply that “smart” is something you get with effort, not something you are or aren’t.

Care
We use the Responsive Classroom model and the daily classroom meeting to build a foundation for care and community. We model and teach and reinforce the ways that we can take care of ourselves and others. We model and teach and reinforce how to be kind, positive, respectful, and safe. We are working to better share best practices across classrooms and settings that lead to better demonstration of empathy and teach kids to use conflict resolution strategies to solve problems.

Community
Closely related to the value of care, our strong community is critical to student learning. Our own well-being is important, and so is the wellbeing of others. We are working as a staff on culturally responsive practices to even better ensure that all families and students feel truly welcomed and comfortable in our classrooms, at our events and at the planning table. We have made progress, yet have much more work to do in this area and I look forward to that.

Thanks for reading,

Heidi
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