Children at this stage still need to feel safe and secure in their environments, and crave positive relationships and inclusion. It's a critical time for developing emotional regulation and empathy, as they begin to seek greater autonomy.

As with all students, Aurora’s staff pay attention to the whole child, cultivating their emotional growth as well as their learning process. We accommodate their desire for community and belonging with our Partner Pals program, where they are paired with older and younger peers for monthly projects, and they begin participating in clubs supervised by Aurora Middle Schoolers.

Social-emotional learning continues to be reinforced in Open Circle, where students talk about how to manage their emotions, strengthen their relationships, and solve problems in a positive way. Students are given the opportunity to explore this in morning meetings and other class meetings, where restorative justice models are used to teach conflict resolution.

To ensure that lessons aren’t repeated, our curriculum runs in a two-year cycle. Some subjects, like math, are taught by grade level.