Responsive Classroom

Monta Loma uses the Responsive Classroom approach to climate and culture. Thanks to the generosity of our PTA, we have had significant training in this approach, which includes classroom meetings, interactive modeling and instructional practices, and positive teacher talk and reinforcements to support both academic and social emotional learning.

One of the central tenets of the Responsive Classroom approach is that social/emotional learning is as important as academic learning. To that end, the leadership team and staff at Monta Loma revised our school wide expectations for behavior. These expectations will be fully rolled out next year through interactive modeling to teach and reinforce the behaviors.

 Monta Loma's expectations are centered around three of our core values, Respect, Responsibility, and Compassion. We will still value and will emphasize and recognize Courage and Hard Work in our students. We chose to focus on three for our behavior expectation to simplify them and because they are more clearly demonstrable for students.

We are often asked if focusing on social/emotional learning takes time away from academic learning. It’s a great question. Here's what one of our teachers said:

“Responsive classrooms help me teach students the skills they need to navigate social and emotional learning along with the academic learning of school. The modeling technique respects kids and makes the expectation clear so everyone can be successful. I thought I was spending extra time, but it’s a worthwhile investment that keeps our day running smoothly and helps the kids monitor their behavior choices.”

Website by SchoolMessenger Presence. © 2024 SchoolMessenger Corporation. All rights reserved.