Here, at Arches Academy, we prioritize the social, emotional, and academic safety of our students. These three “pillars” are absolutely essential for every student to learn and develop in a healthy way.
Social safety, the first “pillar,” means that children feel comfortable around their peers. They feel secure in their ability to make new friends and interact with others. This is an important element in every child’s development because when children feel socially safe, they learn how to get along with other people and work together in groups.
The second “pillar” is emotional safety. Emotional safety is very intertwined with social safety because as children begin to make friends and positively interact with the people around them, they also begin to feel emotionally secure. This emotional security includes a sense of belonging, and feeling valued, appreciated, and trusted by others.
The third “pillar,” academic safety, means that children feel secure in their learning environment. They feel comfortable asking questions when something is unclear to them. They feel confident in their ability to perform well on assignments and exams. They know that failure is a part of the learning process, and they feel safe to try again after they fail. Children who feel academically safe excel in their school work and enjoy the process of learning new things.
We focus specifically on finding a balance between all three pillars for each individual student. If a student is fragmented in one of these areas, it can greatly impact other areas of their development.
Imagine this scenario: a 3rd grade student is a bright child. They become bored in class and begin poking the other students that sit close by. This social behavior results in the student being sent to the principal’s office, which then causes them to have negative emotions associated with school and learning. They no longer excel academically because of this negative attitude.
In the beginning of this scenario, the 3rd grade student is progressing wonderfully in the academic pillar. However, because they were not put into a level-appropriate class, they became bored and started developing inappropriate social behaviors which led to negative emotions towards school and learning, which resulted in them no longer excelling academically.
This is just one example that demonstrates how the three pillars are correlated, however, there are a variety of ways to tell whether or not your child is being fragmented in at least one of these three areas.
Other examples indicating an imbalance of the three pillars:
being disruptive in class
bothering other students
hitting
inappropriate language
poor grades
dislike for learning
no desire to go to school, faking sick
not having friends at school
hating any teacher
overall negative feelings towards education in general
Unfortunately, these types of situations happen all the time. The issue in these scenarios is not so much with the student, but with the system and setting in which the student has been placed. At Arches Academy, we specialize in creating the ideal setting where optimal learning can take place for each student, where academic rigor, social safety and emotional well-being are balanced.
Arches Academy Assistant Head of School Michelle Templeman, said, “Here at Arches Academy, every child has an opportunity to work with expert teachers who will help each student find the ideal balance between these three pillars.”
Each student discovers for themselves the joys of learning because we can assess students on an individual basis. With these factors in place, and with the direction of qualified and involved teachers, each student can develop a lifelong engagement with learning.
If you feel that your child is missing one or more of these pillars in their education, give us a call at 801-374-5480 and schedule a tour today!
