Emotional, Spiritual & Social - St. Mary's School

A group of Lower School students and faculty during Chapel

At St. Mary’s, we believe that a strong sense of self is the foundation for meaningful growth. We help students explore who they are, develop confidence in their beliefs and values, and express themselves with clarity and compassion.

Through a range of thoughtfully integrated programs—including civic engagement, social-emotional learning, and spiritual exploration—we support students in building identity, purpose, and connection.

Social Emotional Learning

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)

At St. Mary’s, our goal is to grow world-sized hearts by guiding students to understand themselves, care deeply for others, and build meaningful connections. We recognize that social-emotional learning is foundational — not something that happens by chance — so we approach it with intention. Across all grade levels, we model, teach, and reinforce core social-emotional skills, including empathy, resilience, self-awareness, and healthy relationship-building.

What We Teach

Students build key competencies in five areas:

● Self-awareness – recognizing their emotions, values and strengths

● Self-management – using tools to manage emotions, focus and behavior

● Social awareness – understanding others’ perspectives and showing empathy

● Relationship skills – communicating effectively, resolving conflicts and collaborating

● Responsible decision-making – making choices based on compassion and integrity

How It Happens

● Integrated into curriculum: SEL is embedded in IB units, discussions and activities tied to real-life themes like identity, community and well-being

● Classroom and advisory time: Morning meetings, circle time and structured social-emotional lessons foster connection and emotional growth

● Counselor-led experiences: Our counseling team provides developmentally appropriate instruction in emotional regulation, mindfulness and problem-solving

● Community-building programs: Chapel, buddy partnerships and service learning reinforce SEL values through shared experiences and reflection

Spiritual

Chapels are a weekly time for all of our St. Mary community - students, faculty, staff and parents - to come together to learn stories of the Bible and how they relate to a designated IB Attitude or Learner Profile. Chapel themes are formulated around an age-appropriate children’s story from the Bible. Christian Enrichment classroom time provides opportunities for developing learning and understanding of Chapel.

Social

Community

Community Enrichment is a program that strives to provide Lower School students with opportunities to not only learn about but also practice IB Learner Profiles. Themes such as Caring, Communicating, Risk-Taking, Open-mindedness, Principled and Reflective are reinforced through the reading of children’s storybooks with similar themes, followed by Hopes and Dreams discussions and setting goals for the year.

Community is also structured to address additional themes of Service, Spirit, and Buddy times. Through service-themed communities, students will apply the lessons learned and the goals they set in service activities that support the school, community, and world at large. Through Spirit themed communities, students learn more about St. Mary’s school culture and history in order to build more Falcon Pride. Through Buddy themed communities, Lower School students are paired with their buddies in another grade to model and exercise their world-sized hearts.

Service Learning

Service Learning program involves students from EEP to Grade 8 getting involved in St. Mary’s, the neighboring communities and the world at large. They do this through a robust IB curriculum that gives them learning experiences that expose them to environmental, local, social, political and a variety of other causes.

In addition to academics, students throughout the year have opportunities to serve whether it be donating their hair in the Cancer Awareness Assembly or raising awareness for those impacted by cancer to participating in the Community Candy Canes campaign where students identify a cause to sponsor, set a goal and strive to make a difference in the month of December. At other times throughout the year, students develop empathy by engaging in various drives that provide food, clothing, books, funds that support shelters and organizations in need.