Reggio Emilia Model

comprehensive school counseling program focuses on a level of education rather than therapeutic change. There is heavy emphasis on one-on-one conflicts resolution and short term solution focus in which the problem is assessed and then solved. Also a part of the counseling program are friendship classes. In these classes students in the fourth grade and higher teach conflict resolution skills to the students of a younger grade.
In order to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the school counseling program there is a meeting held every month that allows teachers and a team of others to follow up with students and examine their progress. Information such as learning strategy plans are collected along with report cards to monitor progress as
At St. Anne’s the Reggio Emilia approach is supported by a low student/teacher ratio, close collaboration among administrators and teachers, and careful attention to the physical environment. One of the reasons why the fourth grade teacher accepted the job at St. Anne’s was because of the holistic approach of teaching and caring for the students. Everything she personally does is aligned with the school’s mission statement. She uses an authoritarian approach to navigate the classroom structure. She stated that, “Order makes things safe.” She speaks to her students with kindness, and love, but in a very structured way. The Reggio Emilia model involves the physical structure and arrangement of the classroom. The structure sounds awesome, but you need to invest money to physically structure the classroom in the Reggio Emilia model. Monetary funds are tight and the necessary tools are not provided to sustain this model across the grade
Kathy Fitzgerald described her role as the director of fine arts as helping students find a creative zone and expand their thinking. She explained that the students create open-ended projects based off the art curriculum and that there is no one- way to do art and it should be open to creativity. She explained that many of the projects the students create are based off of themes they are studying in class for example third grade is looking at geometric design and creating art in style of African tribes. Mrs. Fitzgerald explained the art curriculum is a process and each year more technical skills are added. Mrs. Fitzgerald assess the strengths and weaknesses of the fine arts department by allowing the students to set goals at the beginning of the school year and reviewing them throughout the year. She explained that third grade is working on a weaving project and that project has a combination of teacher expectations and student goals. To improve and solidify community support of fine arts programs Mrs. Fitzgerald branches out into other material the students have not talked about and try to make the art room more of a studio approach. Mrs. Fitzgerald makes learning visible through displays so that the community can see the work in the school hallway. Also other artists have set up installments at St. Anne’s, and students have art shows for