Leading with Character
Raising boys of character and impact is a central pillar of our recent strategic plan. Through this work, we aim to embed consistent language and an age-appropriate character development curriculum throughout the K–8 journey.
The sections below represent the key elements of our character development model, designed to prepare our boys to serve as leaders for good. Across each element, students engage in personal reflection and community-based experiences that reinforce essential skills and support meaningful, lasting growth.
Emotional Intelligence
Self-awareness, self-management, relationship skills, responsible decision-making, and social awareness.
Lower School
Weekly social-emotional learning (SEL) classes help students develop a mindset that emotions matter in knowing themselves authentically, sustaining healthy relationships, and positively contributing to the broader community.
Our approach draws from evidence-based programs including RULER, Kimochis, and IFSEL, and is grounded in the core competencies of the CASEL Framework.
Topics including emotional vocabulary, problem-solving, mindfulness, and conflict resolution are introduced and revisited to build on prior learning and the program is designed to complement and support the developmental needs of boys.
Upper School
"Experiences" classes look to build on interpersonal and emotional awareness, practice communication skills, and engage in personal reflection. Led by our Upper School Dean of Character and Culture, these classes include discussions introducing new emotional vocabulary, the nuance and “temperature” of emotions, and strategies for managing unpleasant emotions, conflict resolution, and peer relationships, as well as topics incorporated on an as-needed basis.
Executive Functioning
Organization, planning & prioritizing, initiation & completion, and cognitive flexibility.
When students are able to execute their academic work so that it best reflects their capabilities, their confidence soars and they are able to be their best selves. We teach them the skills to be organized, plan, and prioritize to alleviate stress and anxiety and contribute to social-emotional development. Teachers across the grades partner together to support each boy with developing executive functioning skills so that he can support his academic success. This includes coaching, lessons, and assignments focused on organization, planning and prioritizing, initiation and completion, and cognitive flexibility.
In grades 4-8, students are provided with essential organizational materials, including a custom Town planner and binder to support their management of schoolwork and extracurriculars. We also offer dedicated time during the week for homework management in a scaffolded environment with teacher support.
Intercultural Competency
Self-awareness, understanding similarity & difference, perspective-getting*, and intercultural knowledge, context, skills.
*Nicholas Epley
Town School builds students’ intercultural understanding and character through academic experiences and global and local partnerships. Beginning with an awareness of multiple perspectives, students develop respect, empathy and kindness through authentic inquiry and engagement. Intentional global learning curriculum, service learning experiences, and projects that relate to sustainability and innovation help Town boys develop a more expansive understanding of themselves, members of their communities and the world at large.
Service Learning
Self-awareness, project management, leadership & mentorship, global citizenship, and stewardship.
Service learning is built into a Town School education in numerous ways, connecting the work on empathy and moral courage that takes place throughout the school to students’ lived experience. A dedicated K-8 Service Learning Leader works with classroom teachers to find authentic connections with classroom curricula.
Starting in kindergarten, students explore the meaning of community, learning about roles and responsibilities within the school. Building on this foundation, the focus moves outward beyond Town School’s walls. Over the course of their journey through Town, students are encouraged to continually reflect on their experiences and consider the impact they’re having on our community, their own growth and progress towards meeting their learning goals, and ways they are putting Town’s values into action.
Complementing this work, our Parents’ Association’s Community Impact Committee facilitates additional service opportunities for students and their families as well as faculty and staff.
Information Literacy
Media literacy, digital literacy, digital citizenship, research skills, library skills, and information ethics.
The development of information literacy equips students to critically evaluate and understand the complexity of information, exercise curiosity through inquiry, build empathy and knowledge of varying stories and perspectives, and access and use resources legally and responsibly. Town’s two full-time Librarians and Director of Educational Technology lead our information literacy program.
Pulling from external sources and developing their own intentional curriculum, our library team instills a progression of library and research skills across all grades. Primary level activities are centered around library skills and literature appreciation while the middle grades concentrate on information and media literacy.
Health & Wellness
Physical well-being, nutrition, mental health, and sexuality education.
- Regular PE classes, movement breaks, and recess integrated into the schedule
- Daily Acre Real School Lunch™ and snack included in tuition, with an emphasis on healthy food options
- Student Support Team including a Lower School SEL Specialist, Upper School Dean of Character & Culture, Upper School Dean of Students, School Counselor, and Learning Services department
- School Counselor is a licensed mental health professional who provides support to students, parents, and faculty. School Counselor meets with K-8 students to provide counseling, behavioral and mental health services, and offers connections to all K-8 students to promote a positive school culture and climate.
- Sexuality education and substance abuse prevention curriculum delivered alongside longstanding partner organizations that focus on research-based strategies that incorporate a broad view of health and wellness both for one’s self and for others, and align with Town’s school values.
Integral to our character development program, Town leverages developmentally appropriate and consistent expectation systems and routines to set all students up for success. We utilize relational approaches and emphasize consistent daily practices and interactions to ensure the unique needs of all learners are addressed and met. Additionally, we believe in the use of positive framing and systems that encourage our boys to continuously develop into their best selves. School-wide initiatives celebrate the ways in which students have embodied school values of respect, belonging, integrity, curiosity, and joy.