RULER Reflections wasn’t just a feel-good add-on. It was a response to the invisible gap I kept watching people fall through — between what we said we valued as a school, and how we actually spoke to each other day to day.
I helped shape and co-lead the emotional intelligence rollout across departments — not just in classrooms, but in staff meetings, in hallway check-ins, in the quiet conversations during lunch coverage.
We turned emotional vocabulary into shared language. Built spaces for regulation, not just reflection. Treated emotional safety as infrastructure — something that needed to be held, not just hoped for.
The work was subtle. Intentional. And deeply felt.
One staff member called it “a return to breath.” Another said it was the first time they’d felt seen in months.
And it wasn’t just adults. One second grader I’d been sitting with during lunch explained to me that her classmates were making up a “rule” to keep her from playing. I told her gently: “That’s not a real rule. That’s a way to exclude.” Later, she asked to join the game and was welcomed in without hesitation. She didn’t have to plead her case. She just knew what was true.
That moment wasn’t a detour from the work. It was the work.
RULER gave us the shared tone, rhythm, and regulation we needed to align emotionally as a school. It gave our strategic vision a place to land.
Because a value without a practice is just a slogan.
