Social-Emotional Learning
Skills for Learning and for Life
Developing students’ social-emotional skills is a hallmark of a River education and is prioritized—across every grade level and throughout each school day—in developmentally appropriate ways. Our Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum targets key competencies including self-awareness, emotional regulation, social awareness, resilience, relationship-building and responsible decision-making.
Beginning in Preschool, children learn to identify and manage difficult emotions, make responsible choices, handle stress, resolve conflicts, develop empathy, and advocate for themselves. As they grow, students deepen their ability to take another’s perspective—an essential skill at the heart of social-emotional learning and foundational to becoming an engaged learner and broader community member.
To further support this work, River’s full-time psychologist leads small-group social skills sessions for Elementary and Upper Elementary students, addressing the specific needs of each cohort. Teachers also draw upon evidence-based classroom management techniques and practices, including Teacher-Child Interaction Therapy and Responsive Classroom, to create nurturing and supportive classroom environments.
Strengthening Executive Functioning Skills
Executive functioning skills, such as planning, organization, working memory and cognitive flexibility—is strengthened naturally throughout the school day. From a young age, River students practice these skills as they transition between activities, check the class calendar (or color day of the week), follow multi-step routines, and, in older grades, use planners and graphic organizers to break larger assignments into manageable tasks.
In Grade 3 and Upper Elementary, explicit executive functioning instruction further supports this growth. Research-based curriculums such as Unstuck and On Target and SMARTS are core components of our Executive Function program, teaching students how to set goals, shift strategies when needed, solve problems collaboratively and manage increasing academic responsibilities.
Together, social-emotional learning and executive functioning equip River students with the tools to become confident, flexible and self-directed learners.