Jointly Prioritizing Time for Social and Emotional Learning in Denver: One of Six Case Studies of Schools and Out-of-School-Time Program Partners

??This case study is one of a series? detailing how schools and out-of-school-time (OST) programs in six communities have collaborated to build students' social and emotional skills. The communities are participants in Wallace's Partnerships for Social and Emotional Learning Initiative, which has brought together school districts and their OST partners to develop and implement mutually reinforcing social and emotional learning (SEL) activities and instruction across learning settings.???The piece features the work of Cowell Elementary School in Denver and its afterschool partner, the Discovery Link program, which is located in the school. The school and program aimed to prioritize time for SEL by making social-emotional instruction and rituals part of the daily routine. The two accomplished this by investing in joint planning, collaboration, and professional development about SEL; dedicating time for SEL in each of their respective schedules, activities, and events; and sharing a social-emotional learning curriculum and rituals.This case study showed that by jointly prioritizing social and emotional learning: Explicit SEL instruction became more frequent. Staff members from both the school and OST program became part of the decision-making about SEL implementation. ?School and OST program staff members developed common goals and terminology about SEL