The Fourth Grade Students

of
Excelsior Elementary
Present

“A Tribute to Veterans”

Jaydin Rothschild, artist

Excelsior Elementary
November 9, 2017
 Social Thinking

At Excelsior Elementary, we believe that educating the whole

child is a must. We know that social-emotional intelligence is
a great predictor of success. As a means to teaching our
students about social behaviors, we are piloting the Social
Thinking Program under the guidance of Kari Palmer.

Social Thinking is:

 Making the abstract world of social situations more
concrete.
 Using a common language across settings.
 Teaching individuals to notice the social expectations
of any setting.
 Talking about awkward social situations in a respectful
way.

Our Social Thinking Committee will meet with Kari once a

month and will also take the lead in training the rest of the
staff. Through the use of pre- and post-surveys, we will be
able to assess the success of the program.
This is a program that will benefit ALL kids!
 Elementary School Counselor Initiatives

Goal: To address the developmental needs of all students

through a comprehensive school counseling program
addressing academic and personal/social wellbeing.

1. Small groups
a. Family change
To connect with others who share
similar experiences
b. Friendship
To learn how to be/maintain friendships
and create new ones!
c. Minnetonka Smiles (student created/led)
To promote positive school culture, build community

2. Individual Counseling
a. Morning Check and Connects
To increase student engagement, decrease behaviors
(http://checkandconnect.umn.edu/)

3. Whole School
a. Happy Camper K lunches
To promote positive school experiences
 Excelsior Elementary Virtual Reality Tours:

Minnetonka Virtual Reality project. Excelsior Elementary will

be one of the pilot schools. Each year, our administrators tour
hundreds of prospective families. For families across the
nation this is sometimes difficult. We are looking to create
virtual reality tour videos where a parent is immersed in the
sights and sounds of the classroom and school environment.
The VR videos will be linked to prominently displayed QR
codes at specific locations within our buildings, and families
will also be able to access the VR video tours from our
website. Visitors will be able to experience the Minnetonka
School environment at any time, seeing and hearing the
experiences, as though they were in the classroom or school.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, video is worth even
more. We’ve already started recording some video clips, and
I’m excited to share those with you once we have them more
fully formed into video experiences.