Fearless Learners

Think about a time when you felt comfortable taking a risk. You needed to feel confident and supported to take that leap, whether it is personally or professionally, and you needed to feel safe in some capacity in order to push boundaries elsewhere. This is why the next belief statement in our strategic blueprint is so critical.

Belief 3: Students feel physically, socially, and emotionally safe; their sense of control is high and judgement from others is low. Students are fearless with the right support.

Prepping lockers at ROAR day!

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs explains how basic physiological needs must be met first before psychological needs can be met; self-actualization is only achievable once all other needs have been satisfied. Our goal is to create physically, socially, and emotionally safe spaces for Pleasantdale learners so their needs are met and they are able to achieve their full potential.

One new step we took this year to demonstrate this belief was revising the 5th grade transition day. This year for the first time we invited all incoming 5th grade students to join us for "Tiger R.O.A.R.S." day, a full day of fun activities designed to help our students (and parents!) feel more prepared and comfortable with starting middle school. Parents/guardians were encouraged to attend the first half of the day as students and parents met our outstanding staff and learned together about lockers, iPad usage/expectations, and the fifth-grade curriculum. The parents/guardians left as our incoming fifth graders enjoyed a pizza lunch, and then the fun really began! Students got to partake in a variety of team building games from relay races to kickball, and they also were able to enjoy the epic lunar eclipse together. These bonding experiences set the stage for a positive school year together since students were able to get to know each other and their teachers prior to the first day of school. While I am sure there were still some first day jitters, I can confidently say our students were not nearly as nervous as they would have been without attending this transition day. A huge thank you goes out to the fifth grade staff for all the time and effort they put into making this a special day for our incoming middle schoolers. ROAR day helped start the community building process, which will allow our students to feel safe and take risks. We continuously strive to create more opportunities to help our students feel safe in a variety of ways so they are comfortable being fearless in their learning!

Welcome to PMS, 5th graders!