Lower School

Why St. Johns Lower School?

Caring School Community

Research and educators' experience agree that building a safe and caring school community and attending to social and emotional learning are essential to students’ overall success. St. Johns' Lower School creates this beneficial environment through our Caring School Community program, which focuses on the whole School community—students, parents, teachers, coaches, and more—and on relationships. The Caring School Community program builds on the powerful insight that when students have strong relationships within their community, they are more likely to acquire self-discipline and feel a sense of responsibility to themselves and to others. Through consistent use of effective classroom management practices and structures that build relationships, Caring School Community helps teachers create calm, safe classrooms that are more conducive to learning. Further, the approach to discipline assumes that all children want to and can behave well at school and are capable of learning and changing their behavior. The program encourages teachers to treat students with respect and to treat misbehavior as mistakes similar to those students might make in academic work, not as signs of moral or character flaws. Through this respectful, consistent, integrative approach, we teach students day by day what it means to be a caring, thoughtful, individual, and how to treat others with respect. We also make the day run much more smoothly, leading to better days—and better outcomes—for everyone.