What are educators saying?
“What I saw was a classroom of fifth graders that were completely engaged – completely comfortable interacting with each other and whomever they were paired up with. They were totally at ease with each other. I thought this maturity of interpersonal communication and comfort with other people was impressive.”
Curriculum
Dancing Classrooms cultivates essential life skills through the practice of social dance while utilizing a highly developed Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum to create an environment in which each child feels connected and respected.
According to a 2011 study, SEL instruction increases academic achievement scores by an average of 11 percentile points. In a recent follow-up article, CASEL (Coalition for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning) noted "SEL participants later demonstrated a 6% increase in high school graduation rates, and an 11% increase in college graduation rates."
Students at Windom Dual Immersion School in Minneapolis got a visit from the KARE-11 crew as they performed for their parents and others in the school community.
Our integrated curriculum makes it easy for educators to bring new life and add perspective to standard educational subjects including: reading, writing, math, social studies, geography, music, physical education, and visual arts. Administrators and teachers alike report their school cultures are positively impacted through the mutual respect, courtesy, and cross-cultural understanding emphasized in the Dancing Classrooms program.
Lisa Anderson, a now retired fifth grade teacher at Pinewood Elementary School in Rochester, remains an advocate for Dancing Classrooms after her positive classroom experience in 2017. According to Lisa’s testimony for our Rochester Area Foundation grant, “Dancing Classrooms is a program that not only welcomes all students, but expects them to demonstrate strength of character at the highest level.”
Learning Empathy Through Dance
Schools are increasingly using movement and expression as vehicles for teaching kids social-emotional skills.
Principal sees huge growth in mutual respect
Rochester’s Riverside Elementary School Dancing Classrooms experience
“This is the best and most effective SEL program I’ve ever done.”
“I have the opportunity to see and measure growth from an outside perspective. Dancing Classrooms is wonderful for our kids and I’ve seen positive improvement socially and academically.”
