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The Watershed School’s Philosophy of School Management

In Teaching Children to Care (2002), published by NEFC, the authors list two basic goals of school-wide management plans:
  1. Children need to develop self-control
  2. Children need to develop a sense of community
The Watershed School believes that in order for children to follow school rules and adhere to community expectations they must understand the rules. In working with children, we so often leave out the practice component of teaching self-management. At The Watershed School, behavioral expectations and techniques of self-management are practiced again and again under the guidance of trained adults.
 
There are different ways we can teach correct school-wide behavior. The Watershed School will focus of the following key components:
  1. Teachers must model rules for children. This procedure will be used to show the students what is expected of them and how to be successful in different situations.
  2. Children must be given opportunities to role play correct behavior. Appropriate behaviors will be reinforced repeatedly in safe and predictable situations.
The Watershed School acknowledges that these goals cannot be accomplished without trained, highly qualified educators able to meet professional expectations that are as high as those they set for the students. The Watershed School will train staff on consistent language patterns to enable them to work on self-management with children. These expectations will be met by all teachers, support staff, and volunteers.