Mission

Our mission is to work with school communities to help children become ethical people, contributing citizens and successful learners. By helping schools implement Open Circle, we foster the development of relationships that support safe, caring and respectful learning communities of children and adults.

What We Do

Open Circle is a leading provider of evidence-based curricula and professional development for social and emotional learning (SEL) in Kindergarten through Grade 5. Open Circle's programming focuses on two goals: strengthening students' SEL skills related to self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, interpersonal relationships and problem-solving; and fostering safe, caring and highly-engaging classroom and school communities. Since its inception in 1987, Open Circle has reached over two million children and trained more than 13,000 educators. Open Circle is currently used in over 300 schools in more than 100 urban, suburban and rural communities across the United States. Open Circle is a program of the Wellesley Centers for Women at Wellesley College.

At the heart of Open Circle are 15-to-20 minute classroom meetings led by teachers twice per week throughout the school year. These interactive meetings include group discussions, role-playing, literature, and community-building activities. Students learn and practice important SEL skills such as listening, cooperating, speaking up, calming down, expressing anger appropriately, recognizing dangerous and destructive behavior, and problem solving. Lessons are then reinforced throughout the school day and beyond by teachers, administrators, school support staff and parents.