Culture & Climate

Our purpose is to provide a safe and positive learning environment for our students to grow and succeed.  All DeKalb Central Elementary Schools have guidelines to enforce and promote this purpose: 

1. Schools intentionally teach strategies that empower students to stand up and upstanders to step in.
2. Interventions are required for students exhibiting mean and hurtful behaviors.
3. Data collection is reviewed frequently as a measure for improvement and continuous growth.
4. All elementary schools display visual guides for these guidelines.

* Bullying is an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical, and/or social behavior that intends to cause physical, social, and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power, or perceived power, over one or more persons who feel unable to stop it from happening.

PBIS Framework

(Positive Behavior Intervention Supports)

 

PBIS is a framework that focuses on the positive aspects of behavior by supporting students in making choices that are consistent with school-wide expectations. Staff members encourage students to continue making positive choices in their everyday lives.

 

 

Waterloo Elementary School-wide Expectations:

 

Social-Emotional Learning

The Indiana Department of Education has 7 SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) Competencies that Waterloo intentionally teaches, reviews, and practices with PreK-5th grade students.  The Indiana Department of Education states that “Social and Emotional Learning is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.” The 7 competencies are the following: Sensory Motor Integration, Insight, Regulation, Critical Thinking, Mindset, Collaboration, and Connection.  If you want to know more, reach out to your school counselor.