What We Do
Mindfulness and Mindful Movement Training For Schools Seeking Sustainable School Wide Programming
When The School Mindfulness Project® (SMP) comes to your school, your school receives a dedicated SMP educator, your staff receives 21+ hours of on-site training, education, applied practice and integration support, and your students receive a 12-week foundation in mindfulness and movement education from our SMP staff. Upon completion of the program, you have the option of providing your students’ ongoing on-the-mat yoga classes.
As we conclude our program with your students and transition to a neighboring school, your staff are equipped with the necessary tools, knowledge, and skills to assume their role as mindfulness educators and to integrate mindfulness education into the classroom setting with daily lessons from our curriculum.
Training takes place in four overlapping modules during a 16-20 week time period as detailed in the diagram below.
As a 501(c)(3) organization we work with your school to help fund this integral part of student and teacher socio-emotional, physical and academic well-being and learning. We’re here to support your school through development, training, integration and via ongoing support.
Innovation and Sustainability
We Serve The Whole School
We don’t work with select classrooms and teachers, but instead, serve entire schools. We believe that mindfulness breeds more mindfulness, and that fostering this education on a school-wide basis, allows for well-being, kindness and compassion to permeate the school community, across grade-levels, from student to teacher, from teacher to student, from classroom to neighborhoods, and beyond.
We Provide A Physical Advantage
The SMP curriculum incorporates movement for the body as an accompaniment to stillness for the mind. This enables students to be engaged and receptive to the mindfulness component of our program.
SMP Teachings Are Easily Integrated Into The School Day
When staff and students complete our mindfulness education and mindful movement training, they are fully prepared to integrate these beneficial practices into the school day, even after our staff has moved on to support a neighboring school.
The SMP Program Includes Integration Support
Upon completion of the training, our staff remains on-site to assist your staff as they begin to incorporate mindfulness in the classroom.
The Mindful Teacher Immersion
A 10.5 hour preparatory program for teachers
This phase takes place during weeks 1-7 and supports school teachers as they are introduced to mindfulness and mindful movements through an on-the-mat immersion.
The Mindful Classroom Training
12 mindfulness classes for your students, 12 opportunities for your staff
Phase 2 is taught to students in their classrooms during weeks 4-15 of the program and provides a foundation in mindfulness and mindful movement education to all students in the school while providing the opportunity for school staff to observe and experience The School Mindfulness program and curriculum in practice.
The Mindful Teacher Educational Training
A 15 hour educational training provided to all school staff.
Held in 90 minute sessions, during weeks 8-17 of the program, Phase 3 draws upon the SMP curriculum to provide teachers and administrative staff with the necessary knowledge, understanding, and ability to meaningfully integrate mindfulness and mindful movement education into the school day.
Integration Oversight
Upon completion of Phase 3, our SMP staff provides oversight as your school staff integrates their new skillset into the school day. Phase 4 takes place during weeks 17-20 with an average of 2 hours per week of SMP support for each teacher and their classroom.
Weekly Yoga Classes For All Students
While the desk and chair-based mindful learning and movement practices of Phases 2-4 provide the opportunity for physical movement and classroom integration of mindfulness practice, they do not take the place of having a mat of one’s own. With Phase 5, SMP offers a weekly yoga class option, providing ongoing on-the-mat yoga classes for all students in the school. It’s the equivalent of providing an on-site yoga instructor to each school and is incorporated to complement the curriculum that school staff will integrate into the classroom. The number of instructional hours per week is equivalent to the number of classrooms in your school.
Refresher Trainings For New Staff and Incoming Students, Keeping Your Staff Supported, and Reaching Students Serving In-school Suspension.
Because your SMP Educators are nearby serving a neighboring school, they can easily return to your school in subsequent years to provide Phase 2 foundational training to incoming Kindergarden students . Any new teachers who were not present the previous year are encouraged to join Phase 1 and Phase 3 trainings happening at a neighboring school, and to participate in Phase 2 with your incoming Kindergarden students. Your SMP Educators can also return to your school for additional Phase 4 training if needed. And of course, your SMP yoga teacher, has becomes a fixture in your school, and is there to meet with each of your students each week!
In order to ensure that your staff continue to support themselves, we connect them with meaningful opportunities for continued practice and donation based yoga classes.
We even provide a Restorations Program, to ensure that students serving in-school suspension receive SMP programming and able to successfully assimilate back into the classroom learning environment.
And if you look far, far into the future, you might see your students graduating from High School, becoming SMP Educators and pillars of the practice in their community.
