Feeling Safe To Move Forward
This week’s ASSETS Newsletter is entitled “Feeling Safe To Move Forward.” The importance of this topic can’t be stressed enough - for children to learn, they must feel safe first. Some studies have shown that student achievement and academic performance increases by 10-20% once this basic need for safety has been addressed. In th school setting, this is often referred to as the school or classroom “climate.” For our Anchorage weather conditions, we might turn on the news or look at a website. Here at the Anchorage School District, we conduct a Climate and Connectedness Student Survey each year to measure the climate of our schools. Most students at Denali consistently report that they feel safe in their classrooms and in their school. Our School Safety rating was 4.15 out of a maximum of 5.o - compared with 3.82 for other elementary schools and 3.62 district-wide. Please take a moment to review this week’s “Ideas For Parents” and think about ways you can help to make your child feel safe at home, in their neighborhood and in our school.
Janice Banta, School Counselor
Click here to download Ideas For Parents, Asset #10: Safety