What do we mean when we say we are More Than A School?
West End Day is More than a school.
For school-aged children, school is a centerpiece of life. It’s where they spend the majority of their time, where they start to create a sense of self, and where they start to understand their place in the world around them. We provide a safe, nurturing, and compassionate environment place where students can build on their strengths, feel strong enough to take on challenges, and achieve success inside the classroom and out.
At WEDS, the foundation of our program highlights that all behavior has meaning, and how you feel impacts how you learn. This foundation is what we call a social-emotional approach to teaching, and it’s always been at the center of everything we do.
With a multidisciplinary team that includes Master Level Teachers, Counselors, Speech and Language Pathologists, and Occupational Therapists, we truly support the whole child. Here at WEDS, we believe relationships matter and having positive relationships with adults and peers at school make all the difference when it comes to learning.
More Than A School means...
Relationships Matter
In a school setting, relationships matter. In fact, we believe they are the backbone of every child’s development. At West End Day School, our social-emotional approach to teaching focuses on truly understanding and connecting with each and every student – helping them engage and expand the orbit of relationships around them.
Learning is Customized
No two children are the same, and our approach to teaching is anything but “one size fits all.” Learning should be personal. Our highly-individualized, social-emotional approach to teaching answers that. We develop a rich picture of a child’s learning profiles, strengths, needs, and interests and create personalized lessons, activities, and events to help them achieve their goals.
Parents are Partners
Throughout the elementary school years, parents remain the most important adults in children’s lives. We rely on parents to be our partners in helping our students thrive. We invite parents to be an active part of our team, and “together we” create mutually agreed upon goals – and talk about anything that may be barriers to those goals. Parents can also seek help with home struggles, as we feel strongly that home and school shouldn’t be – nor can they be – separated. Having a consistent approach both in the classroom and at home can give students – and families – the continuity they need to succeed in various aspects of life.
Children are Understood
Everyone needs to feel understood – and to feel seen. At West End Day, our social-emotional approach to teaching puts the importance of understanding at the center of everything we do. We understand and appreciate that all behavior has meaning. When children are struggling, our priority is to understand the reason for their difficulties. Children cannot always communicate their complex ideas and feelings, and our team of experts are dedicated to helping translate their actions. When our students feel understood, the leaps and gains they make – both academically and socially – are remarkable.
All Problems Have Solutions
Our entire model and our mission is focused upon and dedicated to the ongoing partnership between children, faculty, and parents enables us to solve problems together. In our safe, nurturing environment, we reinforce that problems are part of life and that talking about them openly and honestly without shame helps us solve them.