Okaw Valley Elementary School Principal Heidi Vander Burgh is a firm believer in the power of connection. During her twelve years as a Kindergarten teacher, Vander Burgh found that her students learned best when they held a strong relationship with their teacher. Mutual trust and respect between pupil and educator built an environment where the […]
Blog
Featured Camp :: Camp Wiggi
Covid-19 has had a profound effect on our kids. Months of social isolation, frightening words and images constantly flashing across the television screen, and a complete change in the way we lead our lives has caused an upheaval in the way that children interact with each other. Noone knows this better than Alex Dorson, director […]
Featured School :: Hopkins Elementary School
Each year at the end of 4th grade, dozens of students fill out their very first job applications. Pouring their thoughts into heartfelt essays, they detail some of the amazing qualities they possess. Hopeful hands submit their documents, and then they wait. A committee of teachers compares applications and essays, interviews previous years educators, and […]
Featured School :: Indian Trails Elementary School
If you were to walk into the Indian Trails Elementary School on any given morning, you would be enveloped into a community of kindness. The Daily Nice shines on smartboards in every classroom throughout the Kindergarten through 4th grade school as teachers hold their morning meetings. A staff created mural adorns the hallway, encouraging all […]
Featured School :: Curran Early Childhood Education Center
But what of the children who were still attending school in a fully remote setting? Well, their selfless principal drove the banner to their homes and made the promise with each individual student. A true example of Choosing To Be Nice!
Featured School :: Heritage School
The dawn of social media has created a unique challenge with our youth. The anonymity of online interactions has made it far easier for kids to be cruel to each other without seeing the effects first hand. Seeing the developing issues stemming from cyber bullying amongst her fourth graders, Heritage School Principal Kathleen Pastore began […]
Featured School :: Orchard Elementary School
When Orchard Elementary School parent Melissa noticed adults in her Ridgewood, New Jersey community acting in unkind ways towards each other, she knew that something had to be done. She had spoken with her own three children about the need for kindness in our society, but dreamed of bringing the message to her community on […]
In Pursuit of Justice
Our country is in pain. I wonder how deep our national sadness will go and how long it will last. We were already struggling greatly as a nation with a worldwide pandemic, a bleak economic outlook, an unprecedented number of folks out of work and unable to put food on their table, and division and […]
Kansas School Adds New Meaning to Families with Choose To Be Nice
Plenty of schools talk about the students and staff as being a family, but Grandview Elementary School takes it to an even deeper level. When students start out at the school in El Dorado, Kansas, they are assigned to a “gator family” of 12 students from all different grades and one gator mom or dad. […]
Letter for Choose To Be Nice Schools
This is a letter we sent to our Choose To Be Nice Schools. We know everyone is facing extreme challenges with the coronavirus and need for social distancing. We want to encourage families as they navigate this uncharted landscape. We know you will come up with great ideas and ways to support each other. (more…)
