Nashville teachers put focus on letting kids express their feelings

TODAY Show correspondent Morgan Radford spoke with teachers and students at Valor Collegiate Academy, a public charter school in Nashville, about their “whole child” approach to teaching and learning. Their approach is focused on the totality of a student’s life and allows them to express their emotions to a circle of peers. Teachers and students say the work builds community and ensures students are fully seen. 

“Seeing them as a whole child means we see all parts of them and how all of that comes together to help them learn,” Ashley Smith, head of the school’s culture program, told Radford.