Fredstrom Elementary Selected to Participate in National Network of Schools Educating the Whole Child

Fredstrom Elementary School has been selected to participate in the Whole Child Network of Schools, a program of ASCD, the international education leadership association (Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development).

Fredstrom, 5700 NW 10^th St., is one of only 10 schools from across the country chosen to participate in the Whole Child Network. Participating schools have committed to a comprehensive school improvement process using the tenets of the Whole Child Initiative.

ASCD’s Whole Child Initiative is an effort to change the conversation about education from a focus on narrowly defined academic achievement to one that promotes the development of children who are healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged within a sustainable approach to education and community engagement.

Through participation in the network, Fredstrom will receive customized support in implementing a whole child approach to education, ASCD membership and a trip to ASCD’s annual conference and exhibit next year.  The school will also receive a $10,000 grant for the 2012–13 school year.

“Our school is thrilled to have been selected to participate in the Whole Child Network of schools,” said Vicki Schulenberg, principal of Fredstrom. “We are excited to work with ASCD and the Whole Child Initiative to continue professional development and implement tools and services that will ensure that each child in each classroom is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.”

During the recent summer institute, teams of administrators and teachers from participating schools gathered to formulate strategies and learn tactics for implementing the whole child approach to education in their schools. Elements of those plans include needs assessments; customized face-to-face trainings; and the deployment of tools, products, and services that address the various needs identified by the assessment.

The institute in Alexandria will be followed by an additional one-day, on-site professional development training at Fredstrom. Facilitated in partnership with ASCD’s Whole Child Programs staff, this event will introduce the whole child approach to education within the school’s community. ASCD staff will work in close consultation with school officials throughout their participation in the network to support the implementation of their school improvement plans based on the whole child tenets.

“We know that it takes collaboration, coordination, and integration to implement a whole child approach to education in a school,” said Molly McCloskey, managing director of Whole Child Programs at ASCD. “Our work with Fredstrom and the other members of the network supports key leaders and team members as they create and implement long-range plans that ensure each child in each classroom at their school is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.”

For more information about ASCD’s Whole Child Initiative, visit www.ascd.org/wholechild. For more information about ASCD and all of its programs, products, and services, or to join, visit www.ascd.org.

For more information contact: Fredstrom Principal Vicki Schulenberg at 402-436-1140 – or    Stephen Wakefield, ASCD communications director, 1-703-575-5764.

ASCD is the global leader in developing and delivering innovative programs, products, and services that empower educators to support the success of each learner. Comprising 150,000 members—superintendents, principals, teachers, professors, and advocates from more than 145 countries—the ASCD community also includes 58 affiliate organizations. The nonprofit's diverse, nonpartisan membership is its greatest strength, projecting a powerful, unified voice to decision makers around the world.

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Published: July 24, 2012
Updated: September 13, 2012