The structure of our day, our space, and our program are designed around ensuring that we are supporting our high-potential students, not only academically but also personally.
Leta Hollingworth, often regarded as the “grandmother of gifted education,” helped establish the field through her pioneering work at the original Speyer School, the foundation from which our legacy grows. In her seminal studies, Hollingworth identified the unique social and emotional needs of learners whose cognitive abilities often outpace their chronological age.
Today at Speyer, we continue her legacy with a rich and responsive social emotional learning curriculum designed specifically to support the needs of our gifted learners, equipping them with the prosocial skills that are necessary to transform high potential into actualized talent.
SEL helps students develop essential life skills such as self-awareness, self-monitoring, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Helping gifted students understand their feelings, learn ways to manage their strong emotions, develop empathy and understand perspectives that are different from their own, and empowering them to understand how and why they think they way they do directly impacts their academic success.
Often, chances for academic success are directly correlated with students’ mental health, self-awareness, and ability to develop executive functioning and self-regulatory skills. Research shows that integrating SEL in schools increases “school functioning” as evidenced by higher grades, attendance and homework completion and is linked to decreased emotional distress and more positive attitudes about self and others. When students participate in SEL they often report stronger feelings of belonging and inclusiveness at school..
In order to design a specialized SEL K-8 curriculum, we have to recognize and understand the usual characteristics and personality traits we see in our students. We can break the description of a gifted learner into two types of characteristics: cognitive and affective.
Cognitive characteristics of a gifted learner often include:
Affective characteristics are often:
In addition to SEL lessons and curriculum, we provide other SEL opportunities and support across the institution that align with our mission to guide gifted learners. From dedicated support from our SEL Specialists, School Psychologist, and Student Support Teams to all-school and divisional assemblies and community-building projects, we integrate SEL skills and lessons throughout every part of a student’s daily life at Speyer.
In the Lower School, students have an SEL block once during the six-day cycle schedule. Led by our SEL specialist, these lessons surround topics such as building community and collaboration, emotional awareness, stress management, belonging and empathy, growth mindset, and mindful excellence.
An example of SEL learning centered on growth mindset and flexible thinking could be a discussion about the below statements.
Speyer’s carefully designed curriculum that builds vertically to expand student understandings of core skills that deepen their understanding of self and others (i.e. anticipating the perspectives of others involved when sharing viewpoints, listening actively to others, collaborating effectively with a partner to achieve a common goal, etc.). We also integrate explorations of belonging, inclusion, and equity throughout the LS curriculum to ensure a multitude of opportunities for students to experience windows, mirrors, and prisms.
We have a dedicated SST, which consists of our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) Specialist and the School Psychologist, as well as academic Learning Specialists, Lower School Dean, and our Director of Equity and Inclusion. They work closely as a team and consults regularly with members of the Speyer Community to help understand and honor the unique needs of each child and respond effectively.
This range of flexibility and targeted use of all members of the SST allows us to respond to the unique social and emotional needs of gifted learners as well as the emerging needs of a particular cohort of students. We are just as responsive in our approach to SEL as we are with academics.
The Lower School SEL Specialist works as part of the Student Support Team to differentiate instruction and support the individualized needs of students. Support is provided through one-on-one and small group sessions, as well as in the classroom, focusing on academic and executive functioning skills. These lessons can be further differentiated by gathering the students in small groups to target social-emotional skills that they can benefit from working on. For example, groups might focus on emotion regulation, active listening, persevering in the face of a challenge, flexible thinking, and conflict resolution skills.
They also collaborate with teachers to ensure that instruction is tailored to meet the diverse needs of students, while also ensuring necessary accommodations are in place. Regular communication with families and outside providers is maintained to foster a cohesive and supportive environment that promotes student success. In addition, they meet 1:1 with individual students who may need additional support through short-term counseling.
The Lower School Dean works in collaboration with the Head of Lower School and is a member of the LS Student Support Team. On a daily basis, the Lower School Dean interacts with and supports a variety of areas in the Lower School including Lower School students and their families, homeroom co-teaching teams, content area teaching specialists (CATS), and associate teachers. The Lower School Dean also works to foster and support the community, culture and behavior of the Lower School by working closely with the SEL Specialist to design SEL lessons and resources for classrooms
In Middle School, we continue to support students’ social-emotional growth with as much intentionality as their intellectual growth. The absence of high school students driving the curriculum and feeding the desire to grow up faster than they might be ready for (or we might be comfortable with) allows Speyer to focus on the educational, developmental, and social-emotional needs of children where they are, not where they wish they were or think they ought to be.
We believe our job as Middle School educators is to guide our young people through the tumultuous years of adolescence and into maturity. The impact of guiding adults, supportive peer groups, and a caring community in those intervening four years can not be over emphasized.
Our Advisory program is a cornerstone of our SEL instruction. Advisors welcome the students each day, stay in regular contact with families about individual needs, meet with in Advisory groups for dedicated SEL lessons twice a week, and help students navigate the tricky social dynamics of Middle School. Some Advisory lessons are also led by our Middle School Learning Specialist, SEL Specialist, School Psychologist, and our Director of Equity and Inclusion, we are able to meet each child’s needs and build school culture around the values of belonging, growth, and collaboration.
Nothing is more important to an adolescent than a sense of belonging.
A robust health and wellness curriculum is a vital part of every Middle Schooler’s education. In the Speyer Wellness Curriculum, we strive to provide an age-appropriate and graduated four-part rotation through these topics: Mind (mental health, emotional regulation, mindfulness); Body (puberty, reproduction); Health (sleep habits, hygiene, substance abuse); and Digital Citizenship. We emphasize community norms and appropriate behavior during these meetings and they are led by our Advisors together with our PE and Health teacher, School Psychologist, SEL Specialist, School Nurse, Middle School Dean of Students, and Director of Equity and Inclusion.
We also know that children mature at their own pace and that there is a wide range of awareness, readiness, and physical maturation at every grade level, which is why our wellness journey is in partnership with parents. As we tackle tough topics at school, we hope that families will continue these conversations at home in ways that meet their individual child’s needs and reflect their family’s values. This ensures that our students get the information they need, know where to go to get answers to their questions, and feel supported by the adults in their life through this tumultuous time.
Giving ownership of choice and empowering our Middle School students intrinsically supports SEL. From what electives to sign up for to what afterschool activities to pursue, the plethora of choices our students have to explore a skill or “try on” multiple passions and see what clicks in a space like Speyer is truly special. As the oldest in the school, they take on certain roles of mentor or leader and with that comes the strengthening of those leadership skills which builds confidence, organizational aptitude, collaboration, and more.
Our Middle School SST is made up of: the Middle School Dean of Students, Middle School SEL Specialist and Counselor, our School Psychologist, Middle School Learning Specialist, School Nurse, and the Director of Equity and Inclusion. They meet regularly to review how students are doing and to make sure no students are slipping through the cracks. These professionals work closely with each other in tandem with the grade advisors and families to keep the well-being of the students front and center.
