Mariposa Language and Learning Academy offers students at every grade level Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) classes. SEL is the process through which children, adolescents, and adults learn skills to support healthy development and relationships. Social and emotional learning competencies include self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Research indicates that social and emotional learning promotes academic achievement, well-being, positive life outcomes and can be a powerful tool for prevention and resilience when embedded with intentionality in curriculum, instruction, and school climate. Students receive bi-weekly sessions in their individual classrooms that reinforce our Mariposa M.A.G.I.C. values. The ultimate goal is that these positive traits will spill over into student interactions with family, friends, and community.

Social and Emotional Learning includes the following five competencies:

1. Self-Awareness

   • The abilities to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes capacities to recognize one’s strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose and includes having a growth mindset.

2. Self-Management

   • The abilities to manage one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation and agency to accomplish personal and collective goals.

3. Social Awareness

   • The abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings, and recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.

4. Relationship Skills

   • The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacities to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed.

5. Responsible Decision-Making

   • The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacity to consider ethical standards and safety concerns, and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.