The Illinois Board of Education developed the Illinois Social Emotional Learning Standards to ensure school-age children achieve the following goals education:
Develop self-awareness and self-management skills to achieve school and life success.
Use social awareness and interpersonal skills to establish and maintain positive relationships
Demonstrate decision-making skills and responsible behaviors in personal, school, and community contexts.
At St. Isaac Jogues
We focus on the education of the whole child. Our standards are based on the tenets of the Catholic faith and all that we do and teach is based on a foundation of christian morals and behavior. Daily prayers, weekly masses, the opportunity for confession and adoration, our curriculum, including religion, our policies and daily procedures all reinforce the development of self and social awareness, responsible behavior and self-management skills.
School Counselor
St. Isaac Jogues has one school counselor. The primary focus of the PK- 8th counselor is to ensure that all students have access to the resources necessary for successful academic and social/emotional development. Some of the services the school counselor provides are: individual and small group meetings, response to immediate situations at home or school, helping students understand and cope with social and/or behavioral issues, and classroom lessons.
FRIENDZY Social Emotional Learning Program
St. Isaac Jogues school is one of 18 schools in the Diocese of Joliet to implement Friendzy, A K-8 Biblically based, Social Emotional Curriculum.
Friendzy equips and teaches kids to be really good friends, creating a lasting impact on the next generation. Friendzy is designed to change school culture by offering vital social and emotional learning lessons to proactively address aggressive behavior, reduce stress, equip with healthy relationship skills, and improve focus and academic performance, which will increase resiliency for success in school and in life.
We are the most technologically connected and most socially disconnected generation that has ever existed so we teach and empower kids to have healthy relationships and build strong communities. Lessons are taught through religion classes and student workbooks provide for individual reflection and growth.
One study found that social emotional learning can improve positive attitudes toward self and others and increase students’ academic performance by 11 percentage points. Through Friendzy, St. Isaac Jogues continues its work to help every student live up to their fullest potential.
D.A.R.E. Drug Awareness Resistance Education
D.A.R.E. was founded in 1983 in Los Angeles and it is now being implemented in 75 percent of our nation’s school districts and in more than 43 countries around the world. D.A.R.E. is a police officer-led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives.
At St. Isaac Jogues, our 6th graders are led through a 10 week program by our local D.A.R.E. police representative, Office Coughlin, and culminates with a student pledge and graduation ceremony. St. Isaac Jogues D.A.R.E. students also have the opportunity to participate in an all-night party hosted by the local police department. Visit D.A.R.E. for more information.