Curriculum

BPI and Social-Emotional Learning Curriculum in the Belmont Public Schools

  • Elementary schools- Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC) Bullying and Cyberbullying Curriculum, Steps to Respect
  • Middle school- MARC Bullying and Cyberbullying Curriculum, 5th Grade Guidance curriculum, Health curriculum
  • High school- iSafe curriculum, Wellness curriculum

About the MARC curriculum

The goal of this curriculum is to educate children in grades K-5 about bullying and cyberbullying, raise their awareness about how these behaviors impact children, help children identify the adults in the school they can feel safe to go to for help and support, and help children develop additional strategies to deal with all aspects of bullying. It utilizes both Teacher-As-Educator and Peer Learning Models. Interactions between grades, intended to dispel stereotypes and promote social pressures to model appropriate behaviors, occur in the curriculum in kindergarten, first grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade. The curriculum also teaches about bystander behaviors and how these can unwittingly contribute to bullying in school and how online bullying feels and can lead to more problems in school as well. Bullying and cyberbullying are not treated separately or even as though they are significantly different. In fact, one of the goals of the curriculum is to underscore the idea that positive social behavior is important in all realms – online and offline.

About Steps to Respect

The research-based STEPS TO RESPECT program teaches elementary students to recognize, refuse, and report bullying, be assertive, and build friendships.

About iSafe

i-SAFE is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and empowering youth (and others) to safely, responsibly and productively use Information and Communications Technologies (ICT). i-SAFE’s best practices classroom curriculum for primary and secondary school students is embedded with dynamic community outreach activities to empower students, teachers, parents, law enforcement professionals, and other community members to control their online experiences by proficiently and independently exercising a learned and practiced ability to use the Internet and other ICT with a level of sophistication that results in increased safety and utility.