Principal's Message
Welcome to Fairview High School!
Dear Fairview Community,
I would like to emphasize the importance of working together to keep our Fairview community a safe place with a healthy, positive climate and culture. Our FHS faculty and staff has been focused on building a culture of belonging where all community members are treated with care, kindness, and respect. Our teachers have engaged in professional development where we defined belonging as:
“Belonging is the feeling that we’re part of a larger group that values, respects, and cares for us- and to which we feel we have something to contribute.”(Cohen, 2022)
“The extent to which people feel appreciated, validated, accepted, and treated fairly within an environment (school, classroom, work).”(Cobb & Krownapple, 2019)
As part of our commitment to being an inclusive academic school, Fairview is dedicated to building these indicators of belonging into our school community:
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Appreciated: having parts of your identity admired and positively noticed and/or represented by people, media, and others.
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Validated: having your lived experiences, thoughts, and/or feelings recognized and accepted as real, even if the other person(s) has not experienced similar things and may even disagree with the issues involved in your experience.
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Accepted: having your personhood completely embraced and regarded favorably without conditions attached to full belonging.
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Treated Fairly: having interactions defined by fairness and justice according to your specific circumstances, which may mean not being treated the same as others in order to ensure access to opportunities. Fair treatment may require different approaches that do not imply a lesser standard or status of personhood.
Benefits of belonging
This Psychology Today article highlights the benefits of belonging:
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Improves mental health and emotional well-being
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Boosts self-esteem and associated positive outcomes
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Reduces mental health problems such as anxiety and depression
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Increases performance and self-belief in abilities to succeed
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Facilitates emotional stability, enjoyable learning experiences, positive attitudes towards learning, attachment to peers as well as increases happiness and satisfaction, all of which can improve motivation at school
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Protects against feelings of disconnection with schools and the likelihood of social ills such as internet addiction to satisfy unfulfilled psychological needs
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Offers a protective factor against peer conflicts or other forms of abuse by encouraging positive interactions and reducing risks of involvement in school aggression
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Aids in the psychosocial adjustment of students who have gone through traumatic experiences or other forms of stresses
I hope to see many of our parents at our Coffee with the Principal. Our goal is to take an hour to facilitate connections and conversations that help us work together to support our Fairview Knights. Each meeting will begin with an opportunity for parents to connect, followed by Coffee Talk where we will focus on a featured topic to build our community, and concluding with a Listening Session where you can make your voice heard.
We continue working hard to provide our Fairview community with systems and support for responding to concerns. We appreciate your collaboration in keeping Fairview one of the best high schools in the nation. Please, complete this Parent Involvement Interest Form to let us know you would like to get more involved with supporting our Fairview community. If you have concerns, suggestions, and/or celebrations, please complete our Fairview Feedback Form to let us know. Stay up to date with Fairview news through our Friday Flash newsletter and Instagram. Thank you for the opportunity to serve and lead Fairview.
Best regards,
Dr. Scarlet Chopin
Principal Fairview High School