Life Skills Program

Admission

It begins with a simple promise: your child will be known.

Your child has unique strengths and interests and challenges. Norwood understands that in order to deliver the best possible education for its students, every student must be truly known in all their complexities. When students are known, teachers can design learning experiences that stretch without stress. When students are known, they feel safe asking big questions and becoming their true selves.

Norwood School is a diverse and inclusive community where the voice of every student is heard, where adults model a love for learning, and where education expands beyond academics to include a full range of potential—intellectual, artistic, social, physical, and emotional—allowing each student to develop a sense of who they are and who they want to be.

About

Diversity permeates every aspect of the Norwood experience. Our students understand that individuality, in all forms, is something to be valued and supported. In fact, the celebration of our differences is what strengthens us.

We believe that an open mind and an appreciation of one another's contributions is the strength of the Norwood community. Our focus on inclusion and respect creates a culture where students and teachers are genuinely interested in learning about one another and the world beyond our school.

Program

Norwood's approach to instruction and learning begins with a team of teachers whose first priority is to fully understand each and every student. Only by understanding each learner can we create "just right" academic experiences where every child is stretched but not stressed. Whether in the lab, on the field, on the stage—students are always getting what they need when they need it: opportunity, challenge, and growth.

We believe there is an important place of balance where students discover that "hard" is "awesome" and that mistakes are better framed as opportunities. This leads to growth in skills and knowledge as well as a hard-earned sense of confidence and capability.

Community

Education at Norwood isn't limited to the classroom. Our students enjoy a wealth of learning experiences all over our 40-acre campus as well as off-campus in the broader community—whether it be through service learning opportunities or taking advantage of the many learning resources (museums, performances, cultural programs, etc.) in the Washington, D.C. area. They also participate in an exciting variety of clubs, leadership opportunities, affinity groups, and after-school enrichment programs.

Parents play an important role in supporting our joyful, child-centered learning environment. Not only do they provide invaluable support for school programs, they also model for our children the School’s values of lifelong learning and service to others.

Support

Since Norwood’s founding in 1952, an unmistakable generosity of spirit has infused the School. Generations of parents, trustees, alumni, grandparents and friends have financially supported Norwood.

The Norwood Fund is the cornerstone of our fundraising program. The Norwood Fund supports the daily life of the School on every level, from faculty salaries to classroom materials and technology to the consistent addition of the innovative resources, programs, and opportunities that create child-centered learning experiences just right for every student.

Life Skills Program

As part of our commitment to the whole child, Norwood School’s Life Skills Program introduces students to age-appropriate information about personal and community health and well-being. This knowledge helps them lead happy, healthy lives and make positive contributions to their community from early childhood through adolescence and beyond. Topics include:

Personal and Interpersonal Skills
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Human Growth and Development
Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention
Safety
Media and Technology
Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Action (IDEA)

Depending on the grade and topic, coordinated instruction occurs in homeroom, advisory, science, physical education, and/or dedicated life skills classes. At all ages, the program develops skills and strategies for lifelong well-being and promotes caring for the well-being of others. Throughout the program, teachers emphasize the important role students' family members play in guiding goal-setting, problem-solving, and decision-making.

List of 7 items.

Pre-kindergarten

As part of our commitment to the whole child, Norwood School’s Life Skills Program introduces students to age-appropriate information about personal and community health and well-being. This knowledge helps them lead happy, healthy lives and make positive contributions to their community from early childhood through adolescence and beyond. Some of the topics for lower school students include friendships, self-esteem, inclusivity, bullying, conflict resolution, peer pressure, and responding to teasing. At all ages, the program develops skills and strategies for lifelong well-being and promotes caring for the well-being of others. Throughout the program, teachers emphasize the important role students' family members play in guiding goal-setting, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Kindergarten

As part of our commitment to the whole child, Norwood School’s Life Skills Program introduces students to age-appropriate information about personal and community health and well-being. This knowledge helps them lead happy, healthy lives and make positive contributions to their community from early childhood through adolescence and beyond. Some of the topics for lower school students include friendships, self-esteem, inclusivity, bullying, conflict resolution, peer pressure, and responding to teasing. At all ages, the program develops skills and strategies for lifelong well-being and promotes caring for the well-being of others. Throughout the program, teachers emphasize the important role students' family members play in guiding goal-setting, problem-solving, and decision-making.
First Grade

As part of our commitment to the whole child, Norwood School’s Life Skills Program introduces students to age-appropriate information about personal and community health and well-being. This knowledge helps them lead happy, healthy lives and make positive contributions to their community from early childhood through adolescence and beyond. Some of the topics for lower school students include friendships, self-esteem, inclusivity, bullying, conflict resolution, peer pressure, and responding to teasing. At all ages, the program develops skills and strategies for lifelong well-being and promotes caring for the well-being of others. Throughout the program, teachers emphasize the important role students' family members play in guiding goal-setting, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Second Grade

As part of our commitment to the whole child, Norwood School’s Life Skills Program introduces students to age-appropriate information about personal and community health and well-being. This knowledge helps them lead happy, healthy lives and make positive contributions to their community from early childhood through adolescence and beyond. Some of the topics for lower school students include friendships, self-esteem, inclusivity, bullying, conflict resolution, peer pressure, and responding to teasing. At all ages, the program develops skills and strategies for lifelong well-being and promotes caring for the well-being of others. Throughout the program, teachers emphasize the important role students' family members play in guiding goal-setting, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Third Grade

As part of our commitment to the whole child, Norwood School’s Life Skills Program introduces students to age-appropriate information about personal and community health and well-being. This knowledge helps them lead happy, healthy lives and make positive contributions to their community from early childhood through adolescence and beyond. Some of the topics for lower school students include friendships, self-esteem, inclusivity, bullying, conflict resolution, peer pressure, and responding to teasing. At all ages, the program develops skills and strategies for lifelong well-being and promotes caring for the well-being of others. Throughout the program, teachers emphasize the important role students' family members play in guiding goal-setting, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Fourth Grade

As part of our commitment to the whole child, Norwood School’s Life Skills Program introduces students to age-appropriate information about personal and community health and well-being. This knowledge helps them lead happy, healthy lives and make positive contributions to their community from early childhood through adolescence and beyond. Some of the topics for lower school students include friendships, self-esteem, inclusivity, bullying, conflict resolution, peer pressure, and responding to teasing. At all ages, the program develops skills and strategies for lifelong well-being and promotes caring for the well-being of others. Throughout the program, teachers emphasize the important role students' family members play in guiding goal-setting, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Grades 5-8

Topics for middle school students include nutrition and fitness, personal safety, hygiene, puberty, the reproductive system and reproduction, decision-making, stress management, interpersonal skills, social media, peer pressure, peer relationships, substance abuse prevention, identity, stereotypes, bias, discrimination, and positive action.