School’s Cool

Results!

School’s Cool is an evidence-based program created by SIRCH and delivered by organizations Canada-wide.  As of September 2022, the third party company that evaluates School’s Cool programs, TechnicalitiesPlus, revealed that they had evaluated 5,511 children who have taken School’s Cool.  The overall averages in skill development increases are as follows:

The in-person program is meant to be delivered in a kindergarten classroom, over a 6 week period.  Children typically attend Monday to Thursday from 9:00 to 1:30.  The curriculum involves a wide variety of activities which scaffold, community visitors, and daily communication with parents.  The program is strengths-based. Typically School’s Cool participants are children who will be entering kindergarten in the fall.  

“They’re coming out more confident, the skills are there and it’s showing up in our student achievement results.”
– Superintendent of Education

Universal and Targeted Effectiveness

Created to level the playing field for children who were not ready for the challenges of kindergarten, the School’s Cool program works with all children.

Organizations have used the program with English learners, with Aboriginal children and with children who have a wide variety of exceptionalities and behavioral issues. The differentiated curriculum and focus on strengths allow any child to be successful.

“[School’s Cool] The program is culturally sensitive to immigrant and other ethnic minority children, ensuring that all children strengthen their developmental skills.”
– Researcher & Associate Professor

A Focus on Outcomes

The curriculum is designed to explicitly link play experiences with observable learning outcomes that are relevant to skills needed for a solid foundation for kindergarten. The 122 School’s Cool activities are sequenced, purposeful, and are adaptable for varying ages and developmental levels.

The program wraps around each child, rather than expecting all children to attain the same bench-mark. Activities, whether led by the instructor or child; done as part of circle, transitions, healthy practices or other routines, are done with the objective of increasing specific skills and abilities. Each activity has its own specified learning outcome attached to it, and provides the Instructor with a clear roadmap as to “next steps.”

“Each activity in the [School’s Cool] curriculum is designed to be inclusive for all children. So the children are able to be successful and feel positive about what they are producing.”
– Instructor

Play-based Learning

Children learn best through play – School’s Cool offers children activities that are both developmentally appropriate for 3 to 5 year olds, and fun to do.

Also community visitors and visits are an integral part of the curriculum which involves experiential learning.

“They don’t realize they are learning because they are having fun.”
– Parent

Flexibility in Implementation

The School’s Cool curriculum is 72 hours in length and is divided into 24-3 hour sessions. The program can easily fit into an existing program with children 3 to 5 years of age, or can be run as an adjunct program. It is often delivered in the morning, 3 or 4 days a week over a 6-8 week timeframe. Sometimes the 3 hour sessions are extended to allow for the integration of language and culture, or to seamlessly integrate School’s Cool into an existing program.

“You know, they wake up on the weekend and want to go to [School’s Cool]. How often does that happen?”
– Parent

A Strengths-Based Philosophy

School’s Cool focuses on the strengths and competencies of children rather than perceived deficits. That strength-based approach also encompasses parents and colleagues. Instructors view (and help children view) problems and challenges as opportunities for learning, recognizing that there are options and solutions for any given situation. The program embraces a positive focus that normalizes difficulties, encourages self-confidence and a positive sense of self in children, which in turn leads to children who are excited about learning.

“If we focus on their strengths, they’re going to feel good about themselves. And if they feel good about themselves, they’re going to do it more. And if they do it more, they’re getting more practice. If they get more practice, guess what? They’ve mastered the skill!.”
– School’s Cool Coordinator

The Ability to Evaluate/Measure

At the heart of School’s Cool is the program’s Developmental Checklist© — used to guide skill observations, measure child progress, evaluate the success of a program, and inform further planning. The Checklist outlines developmental steps along a continuum that are critical to a child’s successful transition to school. These form the basis for the learning outcomes addressed by School’s Cool activities.

Instructors are trained in how to use the Developmental Checklist as a tool to inform them about a child’s skill level, to plan for skill advancement, to monitor progress, and to evaluate the curriculum’s impact over the 6 – 8 weeks of the program. The Checklist is a concise compilation of the specific learning outcomes School’s Cool addresses in 5 skill areas: language; math; psychological; social, self-help.

“We’re able to pinpoint where kids are at very quickly and very efficiently [and] what the next step needs
to be.”
– Instructor

Parent Involvement

Parents are a child’s first and most important influence on his or her early learning and development. School’s Cool Instructors learn through training how to best engage parents in their children’s learning experiences. A typical School’s Cool program would have a variety of parent engagement strategies designed to build parent confidence, capacity and enthusiasm regarding their child’s education and their role in that education.

“Often we put School’s Cool in areas where there is limited parent engagement, and School’s Cool changes that.”
– Superintendent of Education

Quality Training and Materials

The School’s Cool System includes over 14 hours of quality training. Training teaches Instructors about the solution-focused approach, how to embed a strength-based philosophy, how to plan, deliver and evaluate an effective outcome-focused School’s Cool program. Training sets instructors up to achieve optimal outcomes with children. The School’s Cool System provides training, instructor manual, curriculum, Developmental Checklist©, toolkit and resource manual.

“The [School’s Cool] DVDs are great! If a staff is struggling a bit, they can just take the DVDs and watch them.”
– Trainer