A Culture Wide Enough to Hold Everyone

Hawthorne Elementary School in San Luis Obispo, California, is the kind of place where students carry very different lives into the same classroom. Some come from great comfort. Others carry foster care experiences or the stress of living in a shelter. Some students speak from the ease of being seen and reflected in the world. Others are still learning whether their voice will be welcomed at all. In a school of about 420 students, counselor Kara Shipcott and teacher leader Cori Chiles are helping build a culture wide enough to hold all of those realities with care. Kindness is woven into how the school makes that possible every day.

The school’s definition of kindness reflects that purpose: kindness is using thoughtful words and actions that help others feel safe, included, and respected. It means being considerate, responsible, and helpful in ways that inspire others to do the same. Students from every class helped create it, and a kindergartner’s simple observation changed the process. When adults planned to have students vote on the best class definition, that child pointed out that voting against other definitions did not feel kind. So Hawthorne gathered the best thinking from every class and made one shared statement from all of it.

Lessons such as Speak Up, Speak Kindly, Acts of Kindness, and STOP! help students practice pausing, speaking thoughtfully, and noticing how their behavior affects the people around them. Those skills live alongside other efforts, including PBIS, Leader in Me, and a schoolwide emphasis on student voice and leadership. Friday greet teams welcome students with music and warmth. Big buddies create meaningful relationships across age groups. 

Hawthorne is also attentive to what students bring with them in the morning. Staff know the day can begin with stress, and they know students need more than reminders on a wall. That starts at the gate, where Principal Tricamo greets families each morning, making sure students and parents feel welcomed before they walk through the door. Inside, the Friday greet team, big buddy pairings, and staff who know students by name help the building feel steady and safe.

In a place where students carry so many different experiences into the same classroom, Hawthorne is building a school culture large enough to gather them in.