How to Use School Family Assemblies in the Cafeteria

A School Family Assembly is the Celebration Center for the whole school. The purpose of the School Family Assembly is to convey important information, and to celebrate life events, individual/group achievements and contributions to the School Family. Utilizing a modified Brain Smart Start creates an optimal integrated brain state that is helpful when bringing large numbers of children together.

Faculty members lead School Family Assemblies at the beginning of the year. Later, many assembly responsibilities can be turned over to older students (with ample teaching and modeling).

Use the following format for School Family Assemblies:

1. Start with a unifying activity.
2. Conduct connecting and celebration activities.
3. Conduct a Conscious Discipline mini-lesson (3-5 minutes) for one of the seven skills of Conscious Discipline.
4. Lead a high-energy song with motions.
5. Lead students in deep breathing to calm the energy in the room.
6. Make school announcements.
7. End with a final unifying song.

Chapter 13 in the Creating the School Family book provides further detail and examples for conducting your School Family Assembly.