Natalie, pictured here with fifth grader Elizabeth, previews the Building Character and Community (BCC) program at TCS Atlanta.
Our Building Character and Community (BCC) program is one way TCS reinforces the four principles of care and respect for ourselves, care and respect for others, care and respect for our space and materials, and care and respect for the environment. BCC is a shared responsibility of myself, faculty, staff and students. It is integrated into classroom activities, supported through free play, and celebrated during school-wide assemblies. It is complemented by the Responsive Classroom approach and lays the foundation for service learning and anti-bias. In addition, I will continue to visit classrooms once every other week to talk to students about specific strategies to help them care for themselves, others, space and materials, and the environment.
What’s in store for BCC this year?
This year, we will continue to dig deep into the big ideas of respect, responsibility, compassion, self-control, and cooperation. This year, we will put a spotlight on social skills, including learning how to read important social cues, conflict resolution, and learning to control and express our feelings.
Here is the list of themes for the year:
Aug./Sept.: Respect
Oct./Nov.: Responsibility
Dec.: Faith and compassion
Jan./Feb.: Self Control
March/April: Cooperation
May: Putting it All Together)
What can students look forward to?
Students can look forward to learning specific “tricks and tips” that they can use at school and home to help them take care of themselves and others. Students and parents can also look forward to learning ways we can take care of others in our community and take care of our environment. Families can look forward to a few fun, family-friendly service learning activities to put our learning into action!
Which buckets are you hitting this year?
With all of the great socio-emotional learning going on around campus, we will hit all four buckets this year, and every year. We want students and families to always think about care and respect in the four areas of self, others, space/materials, and the environment. Whether we are cleaning up after ourselves in the classroom, recycling our milk cartons, doing chores at home, apologizing for a mistake we’ve made, taking an elevator breath to calm down, carefully picking out an outfit to express our personal style, or inviting a friend to play, BCC is everywhere, every day.
Anything else?
Look out for more articles throughout the year keeping you posted on what’s going on in and around the classroom. I’ll share ideas on how parents and families can support BCC at home. Also, please plan to join us for a service learning day. Details about service learning days will be in Happenings in the weeks leading up to each project.
Of course, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me at natalieg@tcsatl.org!
