The Salisbury Township School Board’s curriculum and technology committee held its monthly meeting via Zoom Feb. 22.

Building leaders gave updates on the return to in-person learning, with all in agreement the transition has progressed smoothly, citing specifically students, athletes and staff have been exceptionally observant and respectful of masking and distancing protocols in place.

Director of Teaching and Learning Kelly Pauling discussed in detail the district’s focus on social and emotional learning for students. SEL is focused on teaching skills, knowledge attitudes and how to apply these in order to make and maintain healthy relationships, manage emotions and set and achieve goals. Pauling noted how pleased and excited she was to see skills learned last year during professional development put into practice in classrooms in Salisbury.

Shannon Stokes and Cyndee Hill-Boddie, school counselors, presented on K-5 social and emotional learning supports in place for this school year.

SEL support is offered on a tiered basis, with tier one serving the entire student body. Included in tier one support are the Leader in Me program, schoolwide positive behavior supports and monthly, age-appropriate classroom guidance lessons, designed to address specific areas such as academic, career and social/emotional domains.

The second tier has a higher level of focus and uses tools such as second step curriculum, fastbridge and small SEL learning groups for children in grades 2-4.

The third tier is designated for a select group of students who indicated possible risk in various SEL domains by way of self-screeners and observations by staff.

The teaching and learning update focused on IT related professional development for staff in the Salisbury district.

Chris Smith, coordinator of technology, reported his staff has been working either one on one or in small groups with educators to prepare them for livestreaming when in-person learning resumed.

“We worked closely with teachers to get equipment in place and come up with strategies for how to use it best,” Smith said.

The committee also reported kindergarten registration launched Feb. 22 and was designed to be an enhanced experience over previous years. The district employed an enrollment survey, arranged for staff to contact parents to set up meetings for going through enrollment paperwork and also included ESL screening during registration, which will help staff to identify student needs before the start of classes in September.

The next meeting of the curriculum and technology committee will be held March 29 via Zoom.