LaRue County Schools Taking A Whole Child Approach Following The Pandemic

Author, Roy T. Bennett once wrote, “Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life. Keep going. Tough situations build strong people in the end.”

With this thought in mind, following the close of the 2020-21 school year, our LaRue County Schools leadership team immediately turned our attention to using what we learned from the pandemic over the previous fifteen months to create a stronger school district for our children and community. 

It didn’t take long, once we moved to non-traditional instruction days (NTI), to witness the impact of not being able to attend school in person had on our students. By nature, children are social creatures, and thrive off connectivity and relationships with others. While virtual learning provided access to instruction during the pandemic, it did very little to meet the social and emotional needs of our students. As we return to in-person learning, it has become part of our vision to focus on the whole child. 

According to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), the whole child approach means that each student is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. This goes beyond academic success and test scores. A whole child approach operates on the basis that students' education and life outcomes are dependent upon their access to deeper learning opportunities in and out of school, as well as their school environment and relationships.

As a result, the LaRue County School system will be committed to the social, emotional, cognitive, and mental health needs of all students. That doesn’t mean we will lower our academic standards for what we expect students to know and be able to do. It just means we are shifting to a broader view of the skills and knowledge our children must develop for long-term success, in school and beyond.

To help us achieve our vision, this year, we will begin a partnership with the University of Kentucky Center for Next Generation Leadership to help create an action plan that will allow us to implement deeper personalized learning practices in our schools. This work is closely aligned with our strategic plan, and will ensure a successful transition of our students throughout their educational career into life after high school, while also meeting the needs of the whole learner.