About+the+Initiative

Lake Forest School District 67 will enable students to be among the best performing in the nation in student academic achievement, providing support for social and emotional development, opportunities for community service, and the breadth of cultural and athletic experiences.
 * Board Goal: Student Development**


 * Our Vision:**
 * The Emotional Wellness Initiative operates under the core belief that all adults who come into contact with our students have a profound impact on their development as individuals
 * When schools effectively promote positive character development, they actually see strong academic benefits!
 * We know that successes in life and personal wellness are linked to a set of relational skills that truly can be modeled, practiced, and encouraged each day.
 * The skills toward working in teams, effective listening and speaking, positive decision-making, and calm conflict resolution can be strengthened and refined in our schools.
 * With a true spirit of collaboration between school staff, parents, and the community, we truly can guide our students toward reaching their unique potentials.


 * Our History:**
 * Year One (2007-2008): District 67 initial commitment to the Emotional Wellness Initiative
 * Year Two (2008-2009): Focus group meetings with staff and parents. These meetings gave stakeholders the opportunity to reflect on and discuss strengths as well as opportunities for improvement. Common language established in terms of character education, social/emotional learning, and bullying. D67 formalizes its partnership with The Charmm'd Foundation. [|The Charmm'd Foundation]
 * Year Three (2009-2010): Keep the drive alive! We have restructured our committee to include smaller school-based committees and one overarching district committee. Two main goals include increasing awareness and involvement in this exciting initiative among all key stakeholders and intentionally furthering the development and infusion of social-emotional learning into all aspects of our curriculum and routines.
 * Year Four (2010-2011): The Emotional Wellness Committee continues to increase awareness of and involvement in the initiative through strengthening partnerships with school, home, and community partners. We also continue to infuse social emotional character development into all that we do!
 * Year Five (2011-2012): We have new Emotional Wellness Building Mentors at all schools, which has expanded leadership! Intentionally infusing communication to address parent awareness and involvement, as well as work with mentors and the District Emotional Wellness Committee regarding restructuring of parent representation for the District EWC has been a strong focus.

The Emotional Wellness Initiative is deeply rooted in active partnerships among school, home, and the community.


 * //Our journey continues as we partner with you to bring this vision to view!//**

Please contact Rebecca Leafman, rleafman@lfschools.net or Joe Malin, jmalin@lfelem.lfc.edu with any questions.