As part of the the Smith Academy Bullying Prevention Plan, four of our staff members have been trained in the Owning Up Curriculum.  The remainder of our staff will be exposed to this curriculum on our March 14th Professional Development Day.  Strategic implementation is planned for this year and full implementation will occur in the 2012-2013 school year.  The Owning Up Curriculum provides a structured program for teaching students to own up and take responsibility as perpetrators, bystanders, and targets for unethical behavior.  The curriculum is designed for adolescent groups in schools and other settings.  It presents a unique and comprehensive approach to preventing youth violence by targeting the root causes of bullying and other forms of social cruelty.  It exposes the cultural expectations that teach young people to humiliate and dehumanize others as the way to achieve power and respect, then challenges them to transform this dynamic.  The program also addresses the ways in which racism, classism, and homophobia are expressed in our culture and affect social cruelty and violence.  For more information, please go to the curriculum website (http://rosalindwiseman.com/owning-up/).

Thank you,

Stefan Czaporowski

Principal