Educating the Heart
At Kids Connection, one of our core pillars is
the emphasis on character development that helps children learn to be quality individuals and ethical leaders.
We call this “Educating the Heart”. Many schools focus on academics or social involvement, but what makes Kids Connection unique is the way we connect both the education of the mind and the heart. By showing our students what it means to have good character, they learn how it feels to achieve for themselves and others. It is from that sense of self and caring that the strong academics follow. Students become true leaders, both in mind and spirit.
In 2014, the Harvard Graduate School of Education surveyed 10,000 middle and high school students to rank what was important to them: Achieving at a high level of happiness (feeling good most of the time) or caring for others. Only 20% selected caring for others as a priority. (Study: The Children We Mean To Raise: The Real Messages Adults are Sending About Values)
As a school, it is our goal to give our students a true sense of empathy. How do we reinforce this every day?
- It is a core part of our curriculum. We reinforce and reward great character every day in the classrooms, on the playground, and in all school activities.
- We have regular assemblies where we talk about the virtues of responsibility, respect, honesty, and integrity.
- We have community service initiatives running all year long. This year, we are partnering with Samaritan House as a Wee Care School to further our reach into the community to help others and to show our students how to take these skills they have learned to help others.
At Kids Connection, we focus our attention on educating the heart of each and every student. We teach that good character is doing the right thing, even when no one is looking. We believe that true happiness and achievement come from helping others, not in spite of it. Our mission is to show our students that they have the power and ability to help make the world a better place. Our alumni come back year after year and tell us that it is the foundation that they received at Kids Connection, that helped them to continue to accomplish extraordinary things in the community.