A new report by LFA and Grunwald Associates, with support from AT&T, examines how parents perceive the value of mobile devices, how they see their children using mobiles, and what they think of the possibilities for mobile learning.
Innovative Character Education Leads to Safe, Supportive, and Successful School
Story posted January, 2008
Results:
• 74% drop in disciplinary referrals since the 2001 school year
• Met academic goals for all 29 student subgroups in 2005
A low-income community might seem an unlikely setting for an award winning public school. But St. Stephens Elementary is just such a school, thanks in large part to the safe, supportive learning environment school staff have worked hard to create.
St. Stephens Elementary enrolls 750 children, over half of whom participate in the free/reduced-lunch program, and more than half of whom are students of color.
Faced with such an economically, socially and ethnically diverse student population, the school has created a strong sense of family through an innovative character education program and a challenging academic curriculum. Children at St. Stephens know they are safe and loved. The school accepts and in fact celebrates their diversity.
Launched by two school counselors, the character education program requires parent and community involvement as well as school-wide commitment to eight core traits: courage, good judgment, integrity, kindness, perseverance, respect, responsibility and self-discipline. During monthly meetings, students and teachers define a core value and demonstrate it through creative classroom displays. Teachers' care and concern for children has helped motivate the children to care about each other. Students are trained as peer mediators and a violence prevention program, Second Step, teaches empathy, impulse control, and conflict resolution. To further these efforts, a Positive Behavior Support program helps students set individual behavioral goals and rewards positive behavior. Members of the Student Advisory Resource (STAR) team enlist students as both role models and active school safety monitors who also greet visitors and conduct school tours. St. Stephens' students can also participate in the Bridges program, which connects students with seniors at an assisted living residence. 
The community lends a hand through the many forms of mentoring at the school. Every week, adult mentors help students meet their behavior goals, and high school students help elementary students in an after-school program. Some 70 community organizations support the school in a variety of ways, from offering workshops for parents to providing students with vocational information.
St. Stephens has overcome many challenges through a conscious decision to provide excellent education, as reflected in a rigorous curriculum and a safe, caring school environment where staff and students respect differences and exclude no one. The outcomes speak for themselves: Disciplinary referrals have decreased 74% since the 2001-2002 school year. The school met its academic goals for all 29 student subgroups in 2005, and over 90 percent of its students were deemed proficient. St. Stephens was named a 2005 Title I Distinguished School and a 2004-2005 North Carolina Honor School of Excellence.
Further details about this story can be found in our sources:
Character Education Partnership, "2006 National Schools of Character: Award Winning Practices" under "Love Them First, and Teach Them Second" (p. 38-41), 2006
Catawba County Schools, "National School of Character Awarded to St. Stephens Elementary!", June 2006
For additional information, please contact:
Sharon Collins
School Counselor, St. Stephens Elementary School
828-256-2570 ext. 2227
Sharon_Collins@catawba.k12.nc.us
Photos courtesy of St. Stephens Elementary School
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