SEL in Illinois » CASEL Work » Collaborating Sites

• Catlin School District #5
• Cossitt Elementary School, District #102
• Consolidated School District #181
• Mill Street Elementary School, District #203
• Spry Community School, District #299
• Williams Elementary and Williams Preparatory Academy, District #299

Catlin School District #5
Catlin, IL

District web site: http://www.catlin.k12.il.us/
SEL web page: http://www.catlin.k12.il.us/sel.htm

Catlin Grade School Mission Statement
Our mission, in partnership with family and community, is to provide a positive, safe environment where students can believe in themselves, respect others and experience the excitement of learning. We are a school committed to academic excellence and helping students excel in and prepare for a changing world.

Catlin High School Mission Statement
Our mission at Catlin High School is to be a partnership among students, parents, community and staff – committed to professionalism, respect, high expectations, academic excellence and accountability – and dedicated to the premise that “difficulties and challenges mastered today are opportunities won for a changing tomorrow.”

District #5 SEL Policy
In response to the 2003 Illinois Children's Mental Health Act, District 5 adopted the following policy regarding student social and emotional development:

Student social and emotional development shall be incorporated in the District's educational program and shall be consistent with the social and emotional development standards to be contained in the Illinois Learning Standards. The objectives for addressing the needs of students for social and emotional development through the education programs are to:

• Enhance students' school readiness, academic success, and use of good citizenship skills;
• Foster a safe, supportive learning environment where students feel respected and valued;
• Teach social and emotional skills to all students;
• Partner with families and the community to promote students' social and emotional development; and
• Prevent or minimize mental health problems in students

Catlin School District serves students in the rural town of Catlin, Illinois. Located near Danville, Catlin is the smallest district in Vermilion County, with a population of approximately 2,000. Catlin Grade School serves approximately 380 Pre-Kindergarten through Eighth grade students. The High School serves approximately 175 students in grades Nine – Twelve. The teaching staffs at both schools have a very low turnover rate and feel strongly supported by their leaders. The district superintendent and the principals of both schools work closely together, and are committed to working with CASEL to integrate SEL programming across the district.

Though they are new to SEL programming, Catlin District Schools have been attending to students' social and emotional well-being in a variety of ways before their formal collaboration with CASEL began. For example, a grade school language arts program incorporated research projects on bullying into the curriculum, the junior high offers a community service program, and high school students have the opportunity to serve as peer mentors to the grade school students. Catlin recently conducted two school climate surveys (the Solid Foundation survey at the grade school, and the “I Sing the Body Electric” survey at the high school), which gathered information pertinent to the social and emotional needs of their student body. Catlin's collaboration with CASEL builds on this work to create a whole-school approach to SEL programming that is responsive to the needs of all students and is well coordinated with other school initiatives.

As a CASEL Collaborating Site, Catlin Grade School and Catlin High School have established the following short-term objectives for implementing a well integrated social and emotional learning program in their district. Specifically, Catlin staff are working to:

• Develop a vision for SEL at the district level, and create an action plan to help achieve those goals.
• Articulate this vision to staff, students and families and engage them in initial SEL activities to build awareness and generate enthusiasm about social and emotional learning.
• Build upon the two climate surveys Catlin has already completed to create an SEL-specific needs assessment that will help determine the unique strengths and challenges at Catlin.
• Collect additional information as needed to fully assess student and staff needs
• Discuss ways in which current school initiatives could be coordinated with a district-wide evidence-based SEL program to create a cohesive, supportive environment for developing students' social and emotional skills and to further efforts to address the new Illinois SEL Learning Standards.