Inspiring Social and Emotional Development through Community and Connection
LETTER FROM THE FOUNDER
Introducing LevelUp SEL
As we usher in another academic year, it is with great enthusiasm that I take this opportunity to share exciting news about changes happening at The Meeting House. Our history of innovation has recently led us to implement new programs that are more effective in serving a wider array of students with more frequency.
LevelUp SEL is our pivot program away from being a weekly after school provider into being a daily public school provider. This transformation improves the scale and quality of SEL development that we provide for young students and offers undergraduate and graduate students in the social work and education fields the opportunity to learn and lead.
The Meeting House’s mission of inspiring social and emotional development through community and connection continues to be at the core of our values. We have been honored, for more than a decade, to serve thousands of students and families successfully in helping to deepen vital social and emotional competencies through our after school programs. During that time, we have nurtured new ways to deliver SEL beyond after school. As a result, we now support students during the school days at partnership schools, which substantially increases our impact.
LevelUp SEL, serves the dual purpose of providing training, supervision and work experience for college and graduate school students, while simultaneously helping younger elementary school students deepen and generalize their SEL competencies. Class-time, lunchtime and after school time are now used as applied SEL experiences. Meanwhile, young practitioners have an opportunity to strengthen their leadership skills as they mentor youngsters and grow into professionals in their respective fields.
The LevelUp SEL program provides paid internships for college students for a minimum of one year. Using play as their platform, cohorts of interns assist children in building and integrating critical skills such as empathy, coping, self-awareness, perspective-taking and communication, within their community. Class-time, lunchtime and after school time are now used for delivering these experiences in what we call, an Applied SEL manner.
This semester alone, we expect to have over 10,000 interactions with students at partnership schools. I want to take this opportunity to welcome our 2024-25 intern cohorts as well as express tremendous gratitude to our professional staff, loyal donors, corporate sponsors and foundation funders, without whom our work would not be possible.
— Paula Resnick
With joy & gratitude for all the loving time we shared over the years!
The Meeting House Program has been recognized by the
Voices in Urban Education Journal (NYU | Steinhardt)
as effective SEL in the classroom and for:
Unwavering Commitment
To Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education
and Social Emotional Learning!
Outreach and Partnerships
Building partnerships through SEL education and advocacy
SEL Resources
Kite Tales Blog
The only way to have a friend is to be one
Adult Resources
Resources from our Adult Conversations
50 Essential Social Skills
For all ages
Training and Education
Research consistently demonstrates the vibrant connection
between personal success and strong social skills
How We Nurture Social & Emotional Growth
The Meeting House is a vibrant community designed to facilitate the creation of relationships in new social circles among children and families with shared interests. We work with the children to develop a variety of social and emotional skills in the context of a diverse community supported by professional expertise and encouragement. Key to our philosophy is creating a special place for children to explore new friendships outside of the school setting. We strive to provide a smaller and gentler social environment where children can exercise the variety of skills they are developing as part a community they might not find elsewhere.
