Our focus on social emotional learning (SEL) infuses every corner of our campus. All faculty, including many of our full time ACE staff, are trained in Responsive Classroom or Developmental Designs. In addition, WNS has a social-emotional curriculum based on the cognitive building blocks of social thinking that was created by our faculty for use with our students. This curriculum centers around six essential skills – Self Regulation, Flexible Thinking, Perspective Taking, Social Communication, Problem Solving and Thinking as Part of a Group. Explicit instruction, integrated instruction, and authentic opportunities for practice begin in our ECC program and continue through middle school. We believe that these skills are essential for success in school and in life outside of education.

Our focus on Anti-Bias/Anti-Racist Education works in explicit partnership with our focus on Social Emotional Learning for it is the relationship between these concepts that bring about  more compassionate and equitable spaces.  We have adopted the National Association of the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Anti-Bias Core Competencies (Identity/Diversity/Justice/Activism (or Action)) and the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Anti-Bias Curriculum to guide our ABAR work.

These resources provide the foundation for inquiry in and out of the classroom that sparks critical thinking, enriches conversation, and activates the spirit of activism in students that are essential skills for attaining a more just tomorrow.   Additionally, when coupled with the numerous ways in which we celebrate our beautifully diverse community through art, literature, welcoming, representative classroom environments and schoolwide celebrations, it becomes very evident why WNS is a very special place to be.

Visit our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice page for more information regarding our commitment to nurturing an inclusive community.