RULER Corner News

Well October had lots of exciting RULER things going on!  We had our first ever Charter Day.  The entire day was dedicated to community building activities and the creation of classroom charters.  The energy was high and there was a tremendous amount of collaboration.

On October 20th Sousa had a visit from Dr. Marc Brackett, co-founder of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and his team.  He was able to visit with students and teachers and watch lessons in progress. The feedback from Dr. Brackett and his team was amazing! He later shared some of that feedback with parents and students at the first annual Family Ruler Night at Sousa.  This night was filled with activities that were student-led and helped parents understand why emotions matter and how they influence all aspects of learning. Our 5th grade leaders helped our teacher volunteers to facilitate all the stations. And every family left with a “best selfie” photo and directions on how to make their own family charter!

We are off to a fantastic start of the school year! Last Friday was the first Charter Day at Sousa.

On this day the entire school was focussed on creating our classroom charters and building a sense of community. Some of our classrooms worked collaboratively with their buddy classes. Our upper grade students helped our younger students understand and accelerate in team activities and modeled the use of encouraging language. By the end of the day our classrooms had their special and unique charter words which answer the question, “how do you want to feel as a member of this classroom community”.  Classes will explore how each individual in the classroom can help the community at large to feel their best in the classroom environment. 

At the end of the day we came together (for the first time in 2 years) as a whole school in the gymnasium and shared charters as well as sharing our Sousa School Charter which “follows” us into all special area classes and the cafeteria and playground.  We ended our day with the Sousa School Song and of course a chant of…we are…SOUSA STRONG!

SAVE THE DATE: Thursday October 20th is Family RULER Night!! Details to follow.