Academics

Learning Approach

Learning Approach

St. Francis School utilizes the Nurtured Heart Approach®. The Nurtured Heart Approach® (NHA) is more than just a parenting or educator behavior management strategy.  It is a philosophy for creating healthy relationships with the people in your life.  Created by Howard Glasser in 1992, NHA is being successfully implemented through families, classrooms, foster care, health care professionals, social workers, and criminal justice organizations that are seeking successful, early intervention techniques. 

The Nurtured Heart Approach consists of a set of strategies that assist children in further developing their self-regulation and has been found effective with children of all ages.  It focuses on transforming the way children perceive themselves, their caregivers, and the world around them.  Children learn to understand that they will receive endless amounts of praise, energy, recognition, and reward through the positive behavior they display, and this supports children to build a positive portfolio of themselves, which we call “Inner Wealth™.” 

Intensity is key to the Nurtured Heart Approach thinking.  Unfortunately, the word intensity has negative associations in our society, and teachers, parents, and childcare workers can view it as the enemy.  In the Nurtured Heart Approach®, we believe intensity is a powerful quality that, if developed correctly, can propel children to amazing achievements.  When a child learns to feel great about their intensity, the incidents of challenging behavior dissolve.

Learn more about the Nurtured Heart Approach here.
The Nurtured Heart Approach embraces The 3 Stands™, that when committed to, become a powerful means of transforming children:

List of 3 items.

  • Stand 1:  ABSOLUTELY NO!

    I refuse to give my time, energy and relationship to negative behavior.  I will not accidentally foster failure nor will I reward problems by responding to them in animated ways.  I will save my time and energy for searching for success.

  • Stand 2:  ABSOLUTELY YES!

    I will relentlessly and strategically pull the child into new patterns of success.  I will constantly recognize the success and achievement that children are displaying no matter how small and present them with clear undeniable evidence of their value and how great they are. 

  • Stand 3:  ABSOLUTELY CLEAR!

    I will have clear and consistent consequences for children when a rule has been broken.  “Here are the rules, and here’s what happens when you break a rule.” 
Address: 300 E. Huntland Dr. Austin, TX 78752 | Phone: (512) 454-0848
Excellence without exclusivity since 1985. St. Francis School is an independent, interdenominational school providing high-quality education to children from pre-kindergarten through 8th grade.