At Vida, kindness is non-negotiable.
Vida Values
​An intentional Social Emotional Learning Program that takes on just as much weight as our academic curriculum.
VIDA SCHOOL AND THE WHOLE CHILD
Vida utilizes the 5 SEL competency clusters laid out by the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL).
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Self-awareness: The ability to accurately recognize one’s feelings and thoughts and their influence on behaviors. This includes accurately assessing one’s strengths and limitations, and possessing a growth mindset, a well-grounded sense of self-efficacy and optimism.
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Self-management: The ability to regulate one’s emotions, cognitions, and behaviors to set and achieve personal and educational goals. This includes delaying gratification, managing stress, controlling impulses, motivating oneself, and persevering in addressing challenges.
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Social awareness: The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others from diverse backgrounds and cultures, to understand social and ethical norms for behavior, and to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.
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Relationship skills: The ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups. This includes communicating clearly, listening actively, cooperating, resisting inappropriate social pressure, negotiating conflict constructively, and seeking help when needed.
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Responsible decision-making: The ability to make constructive choices about personal behavior, social interactions, and school based on consideration of ethical standards, safety concerns, social norms, realistic evaluation of consequences of various actions, and the well-being of self and others.
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Vida Students meet with our SEL Leader once a week, where a new topic is introduced and a hands-on learning activity within that context takes place. Core teachers then weave the week's theme throughout their academic learning standards.
Beyond these lessons, teachers set up the classroom community in a way in which routines and daily practices encourage cooperative learning and positive relationship building experiences. Teachers model behaviors daily in their actions and language.
A SAMPLING OF VIDA VALUES THEMES...
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EMPATHY
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PERSPECTIVE
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CHANGE
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MOOD METERS
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IDENTITY
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CULTURE
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EMOTIONAL REGULATION
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FAMILY
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GROWTH MINDSET
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GRATITUDE
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COLLABORATION
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REFLECTION
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SUPPORT SYSTEMS
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AFFIRMATIONS
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GOAL SETTING
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SELF-ADVOCACY
Self-Determined Learning Lab
This child-led program is discovery and passion-based, autonomously driven, and innovative in design. At the beginning of the school year, our 4th – 6th grade students journal about their identities at Vida and the roles they hope to achieve. They create personal goals for the school year, which we collect and sort into recurring themes: advocacy, charity, service/help-giving, change making, skill mastery, and interest exploration. Students then receive a survey with these themes, including definitions and examples, allowing them to brainstorm initiatives and committees they'd like to join. For example, one student suggested organizing support for our unhoused population, while another started an initiative to reinstate a discontinued elective. Skill- and interest-based clubs also formed. These student-led, passion-based groups foster intrinsic motivation and engagement. Students exercise autonomy in deciding their direction, desired outcomes, and paths to success. They collaborate, navigate disagreements, build on each other's ideas, and practice cooperation, communication, and respect. We observe their enthusiasm to learn as they assign themselves tasks for personal fulfillment and work toward their collective goals.
