RULER, Part of North Beach Elementary’ s Social/Emotional Curriculum

North Beach has adopted a new social/emotional curriculum known as RULER, an evidence-based approach for integrating social and emotional learning into schools. RULER is the work of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, which conducts rigorous research on the power of emotions and creates programs that teach emotional intelligence to children and adults. The RULER curriculum is composed of the three phases and, as recommended, North Beach staff will learn and implement the program gradually over the next 2-3 years. A small group of North Beach teacher leaders will attend quarterly training and then return to the school to teach the rest of the staff.

The first year of the program is dedicated to Phase 1, or the “Anchors of Emotional Intelligence.”

These four anchor “tools” help students and staff learn to:  

R ecognize emotions in self and others;
U nderstand causes and consequences of emotions;
L abel emotions accurately;
E xpress emotions effectively;
R egulate emotions effectively.

Decades of research show that these skills are essential to effective teaching and learning, sound decision-making, physical and mental health, and success in school and beyond. With RULER, students and the adults get involved in their education – the principal, teachers and support staff – develop a deep and consistent approach to emotional intelligence, supporting a genuinely safe space for students to learn and grow. 

The Long Term Goals of RULER are:

Students learn emotional awareness and how to verbalize their feelings.
Students become ready to practice regulating their emotions.
Students learn self-control. Self-control takes more practice than relying on short-term solutions like consequences, structure, and constant adult control. 
Students practice, make mistakes and reflect. They’ll practice a lot and that’s how progress happens.

Students learn to be self-managers; they feel capable as they gain skills that make their lives better in the long term.