Mindfulness & Social Emotional Learning

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

Roanoke City Public Schools has a robust mindfulness-based Social and Emotional Learning Program that supports all students and staff. 

Some of our programs, initiatives, and activities to support our students and staff include:

• Our school counselors, school social workers, teachers, school psychologists, school administrators, and staff provide students with social and emotional support every day. We are all working in service of our students and RCPS families.
• We offer adult social and emotional learning practices and professional learning for our teachers and staff, such as "Building a Sense of Belonging and a Caring Community" and the "Well-Being and Resilience Series."
• We continue to integrate SEL with academics through our instructional core values and responsive lesson plan. We use the SEL 3 Signature Practices to bring SEL into every lesson with welcoming activities, engaging strategies, and optimistic closures.
• We are currently offering a book study for staff, Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive, by Marc Brackett, Ph.D., which introduces the RULER SEL framework from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.

Mindfulness Program

Roanoke City Public Schools practices mindfulness throughout the district, from the classroom to professional learning. We have worksheets and tutorials available to our students, staff, and families below: