Hayes Leonard School, A C.L.A.S.S. Act

valpo-community-schoolsWritten by Bill Eichelberg, Principal

Hayes Leonard is a C.L.A.S.S. (Connecting Learning Assures Successful Students) School. C.L.A.S.S. is a not-for-profit, nationally recognized professional development company founded by Indiana teachers on brain-based learning with a focus on Life Skills which include Character Development, Social Development, and Academic Skills. As a professional development model for teachers, C.L.A.S.S. is committed to Hayes Leonard's vision of helping students become creative problem solvers and responsible citizens.

Character development is essential. Students are introduced to, taught, and practice character skills such as caring, cooperation, effort, perseverance, and self-control. Connecting learning has students identifying these skills in themselves as they go throughout the day with fellow Hayes Leonard students, in the characters of the stories they read, and earning Good Citizen Awards. Building strong, positive relationships is taught and modeled daily by everyone who enters Hayes Leonard school. Parents are involved and model working collaboratively in the Garden of Heroes and other various activities at school.

Understanding that no single approach will ever teach all children, C.L.A.S.S. teachers teach students according to each student's learning style. Nationally known teachers of teachers, including Barbara Pedersen, founder of C.L.A.S.S., use multiple pathways of learning to teach all learners, child and adult. Collaboration is one of those strategies. Walking into a C.L.A.S.S. classroom, you will notice students working in collaborative groups. Collaborative groups are created so students have a team to "bounce ideas off of." Students hear a lot of information each day. Collaborative groups provide an opportunity to restate information or turn information into charts, graphs or highlighted lists. Social Development skills are those used to be active members in the classroom where students work together for success. Steps or procedures for all activities, including working together, are created as teachers use every opportunity to teach writing and literacy skills.

A C.L.A.S.S. motto, "As good as we are, we can always get better," is a perfect fit with Hayes Leonard, an exemplary school that was recognized as a 2010 National Blue Ribbon School. State and district standards change over time requiring teachers to revisit and review those requirements. Hayes Leonard teachers strive to teach those academic standards in connected, meaningful lessons connecting them to the interests of the students. These concepts and information are then stored in long-term memory. Academic road maps are created for students to know what will be studied and what to expect with each school year.

The Hayes Leonard "Family" is a community of caring faculty, staff, and parents who are committed to working together to "Build the Future One Student at a Time!"