The mission of Paw Paw Public Schools is that we develop, support, challenge and inspire every child for life-long success. In the spirit of that mission statement, we are excited to share some exciting news with our families about changes being made to our specials classes on the elementary campus.

We will be adding the Michigan Model for Health Curriculum from the Michigan Department of Health & Human Services to our Physical Education classes. This resource includes units on Social Emotional Health, Nutrition & Physical Activity, Safety, Drug awareness & Prevention, and Personal Health & Wellness. Students will receive a much more well-rounded curriculum from Mrs. Castellanos and Mrs. DePierre.

We are also extremely excited to announce that we have added a new class for all students in grades kindergarten through 5^th grade. We are very excited to welcome Mr. Ben Bowater to our elementary campus teaching staff. Mr. Bowater has a Bachelor of Science Degree in education from Northern Illinois University and previously taught for Chicago Public Schools. Most recently, Mr. Bowater has been helping with our monthly lessons and assemblies from the Virtues Project.

Beginning on Monday, January 27^th, our students now have a new Specials class devoted to Social Emotional Learning taught by Mr. Bowater.

The Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL) is an organization that collaborates with experts nationwide on social and emotional learning (SEL). CASEL defines social emotional learning as the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. The class will teach our students critical skills to help them be more successful in school and in life.

Paw Paw Later Elementary

Social Emotional Learning on the Elementary Campus