• A Strong Start for Teachers

    Teachers: we sincerely hope you were able to take some well-deserved time off this summer. The past two school years have asked too much of you. And right around the corner is the beginning of something new…a new classroom of kids, new challenges, new successes.  Although we continue to face many unknowns this school year, […]

  • A Smooth Transition to the School Year

    The new school year is fast approaching, and the sunlit days are growing a little shorter. It’s time to transition from summer to the more structured schedule of fall.  There are still a lot of unknowns this school year, so it will helpful for kids to feel as ready as they can. When we leave […]

  • East Hill Elementary

    We Welcome Our Newest Whole School!   Sound Discipline is pleased to announce a new Whole School partnership with Kent School District’s East Hill Elementary. East Hill Principal Paul Tytler had this to say about the school’s collective decision to become a Sound Discipline partner: “We know social emotional learning is a priority, and beginning this […]

  • Kick Back into Summer as a Family

    This wild ride of a school year is nearing its close, and parents and caregivers need a break. The hours spent overseeing our kids’ schooling on top of working from home have resulted in significantly heightened stress levels that have not returned to pre-Covid levels. In fact, as vaccination rates rise and more social activities […]

  • Lakeridge Elementary Engages in Culturally Relevant SEL Content Schoolwide/ K-5th grade

    This month we are featuring some important work being done by two educators at Lakeridge Elementary School in the Renton School District. Jenna Middleton, SEL coach, and Angela Varela, counselor, began with a few questions – What could it look like for our students to receive culturally relevant and responsive lessons? How could we incorporate […]

  • What Did We Learn this Year that We Can Carry Forward?

    Phew!  This was a school year for the memory books! We may want to wash our hands (pun intended) of this year and say, “Good riddance!” to the sanitizer, the Zoom or Teams calls, and our vast collections of fashionable masks. And yet, in the chaos, curve balls, and continual transitions, there were some rock-solid […]

  • Show Gratitude for Teachers All Year!

    If this past year has taught us anything, it gave parents and caregivers insight to how difficult teaching is! We tried our best to step into teachers’ shoes…but we are not teachers. Teachers showed up for their students this year, despite what some described as “trying to build the airplane as we were flying it.” […]

  • ACEs Awareness and Knowing Your Own Number

      ACE Resource Network recently announced the first ever public awareness campaign about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). At Sound Discipline, we’ve been talking and teaching about ACEs for a long time, and we’re thrilled to see a movement putting resources into spreading the word about ACEs and trauma-informed practices.   The term ACEs was invented […]

  • An Open Letter to Teachers and Educators

    It has been a rough year. The pandemic threw students, even those who had lived stable lives pre-COVID, into lives of uncertainty, including financial and housing insecurity.  Those who were already living challenging circumstances faced even more hardships. The constant drum beat of racial injustice added another layer of stress for both teachers and students. […]

  • A Creative SEL Screener Tool for Remote and In-person Learning

    Remote learning has many challenges, one of the biggest being a lack of connection. Without the ability to read body language, see faces, and spot someone in a hallway, how can educators connect with their students to see how their doing?   After the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) mandated the adoption […]