Andover Public Schools details districtwide RULER rollout, classroom tools and training

District staff gave the Andover School Committee a progress update on RULER, the social-emotional learning (SEL) framework the district is implementing across pre-K'12 classrooms.

At a workshop presentation, program coordinators and teachers said the rollout is phased: eight schools were in an initial learning year last year, most schools are in year two of implementation, and the high school is in the early implementation phase after summer training. Presenters distributed packets and personal Mood Meters to attendees and demonstrated a two-minute mindfulness exercise used as a classroom and staff practice. "I am now calm," the facilitator guided during the opening activity, modeling the program's Meta Moment strategy (Jackie Salveson, health teacher).

The presentation outlined the four RULER anchor tools: the Charter (a collaboratively developed agreement about how people want to feel), the Mood Meter (a grid of pleasantness and energy used to label emotions), the Meta Moment (a pause-and-plan practice for high-emotion moments) and the Blueprint (a conflict-resolution guide that supports peer mediation). Staff described classroom examples: Bancroft adapted its PAWS positive-behavior system into a charter displayed throughout classrooms; Shawsheen created a schoolwide charter with input from teachers and instructional assistants; and several middle schools created student charters in homeroom or "crew" groups.

Presenters described grade-level scaffolding for vocabulary and practice: elementary teachers may use icons or simplified language, while older students are taught a growing emotion vocabulary that maps to the Mood Meter. Teachers reported using the Mood Meter in morning meetings and on interactive classroom boards; a 7th-grade teacher wrote a grant to install Promethean boards that host daily Mood Meter slides.

The district also highlighted digital tools. Staff identified an app called "How We Feel," attributed in the presentation to Yale, that maps moods to words, offers journaling prompts and produces tracking graphs. Presenters said a digital mood-meter was used at a recent faculty meeting with 88 staff participating.

On measurement, presenters said the district administers a biannual mental-health survey for grades 6'12 (the transcript references the instrument as "BIMUS"); staff said they can use that data to see trends over time. The social work department also reported serving roughly 1,100 students per year, about 20% of the district's population, as an indicator of caseload and reach.

Staff emphasized training and pacing: trainers use a slow, phased rollout with building-level RULER teams, summer training for some schools and ongoing replacement training when team members rotate off. Presenters said this approach helped teacher buy-in.

Community outreach was part of the plan: staff said they hope to staff an information booth at Andover Day and to present at Discover Andover High School for eighth-grade families on Jan. 27. The district also offers two online RULER modules (about four hours each) for deeper training and planned to invite committee members to participate in January.

The committee's discussion included questions about frequency of classroom practice, which staff said varies by teacher (daily checks in some classrooms; weekly or periodic checks in others), and about whether vocabulary is scaffolded for younger students (staff said yes). Staff also described using RULER alongside other SEL initiatives and highlighted the program's emphasis on teaching adults first so educators share a common language with students.

The presentation closed with thanks and an invitation to continue sharing progress; committee members expressed appreciation for the update and interest in community outreach.