Morningside Elementary School implements the Social Emotional Learning program, an Atlanta Public Schools district-wide initiative
Through a comprehensive focus on SEL, Atlanta Public Schools is committed to the social, emotional, and academic development of students by connecting "hearts and smarts" as part of a systemic whole child framework. APS also recognizes that building the capacity of adults to model SEL skills is at the core of teacher and leader excellence. APS uses the CASEL framework to inform its SEL programming in alignment with the district's strategic plan.
CASEL defines SEL as the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes, to develop healthy identities, manage emotions, and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions (CASEL, 2020).
Social Emotional Learning supports the academic and life-readiness success of children. Integrated into the daily schedule, all students receive SEL utilizing the Second STEP Curriculum. All Counseling Classroom Instruction will support the SEL theme and competency of the corresponding month.
SEL Books of the Month
APS SEL selects a book each month that is presented to all students across the entire District. The Book of the Month provides the anchor for discussion and activities in daily SEL lessons and in Counseling Instruction.
Thanks to the support of the MES Foundation and all of its parent donors, every MES classroom will be supplied with copies of every SEL Book of the Month.
Click to learn more about the MES Foundation
SEL Lesson Plans
APS mandates that all students receive 60 minutes of SEL instruction weekly. The District SEL department provides weekly lesson plans for teachers to implement in their SEL block daily.
Click to view SEL Lesson Plans
*Teachers, when downloading each week, please make a copy*
SecondSTEP Curriculum and the Child Protection Unit
August SEL Students of the Month
At the end of every month, teachers will nominate one student from their class that exhibited the SEL competency for that month. The month of August was all about BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS. Congratulations to our SEL Students of the Month!
Kindergarten
Savannah Lee
Lily Cooper
Parker Burton
Akshay Warrier
Joyce Lin
Amelia Meisel
1st Grade
Jonathan Fiddes
Mason Poncz
Bethany Zant
Quinn Coffas
Riday Chauhan
Cameron Cobb
Jackson Krieger
2nd Grade
Viraj Khulbe
Jack Reiff
Grace Roach
Samuel Ross
Charlotte Curtis
Jonah Foreman
Caroline James
Kiala Law
3rd Grade
Carter Fox
Joseph Clifton
Maddie Dublin
Sadie Baldwin
Eleanor Healy
Vivienne Pool
Cadence Carey
4th Grade
John Hudson
Riya Hida
Gracie Farr
Darren Lieb
Henry DeBacker
Arjun Vaitla
5th Grade
Brendan Poirier
Julia Prout
Adelyn Freitag
Devon Crisler
Nate Little
Jordan Jackson-Stroud
September SEL Students of the Month
The SEL Theme for the month of September was Individuality and Positive Self-Concept. Students chosen for SEL Student of the Month demonstrated amazing self-awareness. Congratulations to our SEL Students of the Month!
Kindergarten
Jackson Pratt
Lukas Bieg
Kit Parker
Bobby Ware
Avery Clendenin
Charles DeBacker
1st Grade
Blakeley Weinstein
Breelyn Simpson
Fletcher Morrison
Kiran Shankar
Ella Meisel
Olivia Lutz
Rose Griffin
2nd Grade
Illina Rangaraj
Virginia Franconi
Henry Decker
Sloan Thibodeau
Zoe Oster
Madison Smith
Lorenzo Gardner
Cullen Cadin
3rd Grade
Jacob Clifton
Elizabeth O'Brien
Elizabeth McHenry
Faelan Andrews
Alexander Uwaezouke
Millie Byrd Roberts
Eloise Lippert
4th Grade
Ava Bowman
August Kucek
James Moye
Theo LeDantec
Nora Tardelli
Maya Al-Bayati
5th Grade
Zacharey Mesbahi
Jacob Evans
Daniela Aguilar Gomez
Nathaniel Warner
Charlie Baldwin
Emma Stiedinger
October SEL Students of the Month
The SEL Theme for the month of October was Diversity and Acceptance. Students chosen for SEL Student of the Month demonstrated amazing self-awareness. Congratulations to our SEL Students of the Month!
Kindergarten
Clara Van Curen
Oliver Ingley
Kaydence Carter
June Ravenel
Joyce Lin
William Franconi
1st Grade
Giselle Albury
Jackson Bowman
Clara Payne
Wyck Jones
Davis Townley
Leah Vece
Daniel Legum
2nd Grade
Isabella Holdsworth
Clarence Wang
Ryan Kisgen
James Pratt
Franny Fox
Rumi Qureshi
Catherine Bauer
Michaela Yurchenko
3rd Grade
Millie Constant
Henry Baby
Ezra Duke
Reavey Bull
Parker Alexander
Owen Milam
Adam Richards
5th Grade
Ariel Yurchenko
Norah Hutchins
Andres Nunez
Annika Goodman
Almila Kirbiyik
Isabella Atkin
4th Grade
Maybeth Rutherford
Keira Cobb
Rae Conlan
Khush Bhatia
Milo Chiecchio
Max Kozinn
November SEL Students of the Month
The SEL Theme for the month of November was Empathy. Students chosen for SEL Student of the Month demonstrated kindness in building relationships. Congratulations to our SEL Students of the Month!
Orson Misbach
Edwin Maldonado
South Baddour
Carsten Navarro
Izabel Bellmann
Nicholas Lenhart
May Kulinski
Taylor McKinney
Luke Hernandez
Caroline Lumpkin
Aila Connor
Ian Kang
Kimberly Alvarez-Martinez
January SEL Students of the Month
The SEL Theme for the month of January was Courage. Students chosen for SEL Student of the Month demonstrated courage to overcome adversity, take risks and advocate for oneself. Congratulations to our SEL Students of the Month!
Kate Thomas
Madelyn Boorman
Justin Miller
Margaret Bell
Elliot Goran
Ingrid Azabamba Santiago
Lucas Cooper
Serafina Anthony
James Lester
Sariah Tapp
Rafael Alvarez Martinez
Evan Pressley
Hannah Gebara
Rowan Lightsey
Marley Winer
Arman Shpuza
Kennedy Hooper
Francine Emmanuel
Jace Grantham
February SEL Students of the Month
The month of August was all about Problem Solving. Congratulations to our SEL Students of the Month!
Kindergarten
Emma Kate Ward
Jacob Okunoren
Miriam Shaw Smith
1st Grade
Theodore Ferrara
Victoria Baile
Will King
Sutton Siesky
Thomas Mac Marshall
2nd Grade
William Uwaezouke
Zoe Abhyankar
Natalya Moody
Annie Zhang
Maya Goldblum
Oliver Hoffmeyer
3rd Grade
Cullen Hendrix
Jesse Ongopa
Beckett Herman
Charlotte Rogers
Camille Griggs
Nina McNeight
4th Grade
Luke Albert
Anand Sathy
James Moye
Ivy Allen
Charley Twombly
Heidi Hu
5th Grade
Max Quinn
Finn Brennan
Ishani Bhat
Adriano Espelosin
March SEL Students of the Month
The month of March focused on Perserverance. Congratulations to our SEL Students of the Month!
1st Grade
Tristan Moore
Raphael Voraotsady
Mia Garcia
Hannah Al-Bayati
Amalia Maples
Kindergarten
Zeinab Dabo
Violet Schneider
Wyatt Hund
2nd Grade
Faiz Ali
Ellie Miningham
Colin Floyd
Nirvan Mukhopadhyay
Harlan Johnson
Ashley Gomez Rosales
Nicholas Mapen
3rd Grade
Aarna Vaitla
Lucia McCullough
Lucy Brennan
Owen Coffas
Donta Kemp
Ardaan Schimmel
Kayla El-Deiry
4th Grade
Sam Toledo
Florie Low
Zain Qureshi
Avery Nelson-Iannelli
Zeynep Akchakodzha
5th Grade
Nicholas Esposito
Annabel Fox
