Caring Schools Communities
GCCS adopted the “Caring Schools Communities”, a character education program formally known as the Child Development Project. The components of this program include: Class Meetings, Homeside Activities, School Wide Activities and Buddies.
Homeside activities are short, concrete activities that foster communication between teachers and parents and parents and students. These activities enable parents to contribute a home-side to their children’s school-side learning and encourage personal time with child and parent/adult caregiver. These activities deliver a message of respect for the diversity among family and community. All activities build on the value of parents and children talking and listening in their home language.
The Buddy program gives students the opportunity to develop caring, trusting friendships through shared learning experiences that are engaging for older and younger students. Teachers are assigned buddies and participate in multi-age group activities.
Class meetings are times to talk; forums for students and teachers to gather to reflect, discuss issues or make decisions about the ways they want their class to be. The teacher’s role is to create an environment in which students see that their learning, their opinions and their concerns are taken seriously. The students participate as valuable contributors to the classroom community. The meetings promote classroom management in a way that helps students actively contribute to their academic and social learning.
Whole school activities are celebrations of student learning. They are exhibits that enable parents, caregivers, family, friends and community to celebrate the achievements of the students.
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