The Alternative Press

The Peck School (an independent, K-8, co-ed school in Morristown, NJ) recently contributed a chapter to the book, Making Our Pact: Lower School Programs for Character Development, published by the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education (CSEE).

The Peck School’s character education program, InDeCoRe (Individual Development and Community Responsibility), was “born” in 2002—though in truth, the School’s commitment to character development has been an integral part of a Peck education for decades upon decades.

Under the guidance of an administrative and faculty team, the many threads of character development initiatives were formalized into a measurable pilot program designed to teach healthy and ethical development within the scope of a rich academic curriculum.  The InDeCoRe pilot was first targeted for two specific grade levels, utilizing in-class programming as well as special events for students and parents. With an overwhelmingly positive response, InDeCoRe quickly became a permanent component to a Peck education, encompassing all grades. It has since become the touchstone through which the School advocates its core values and facilitates the various formal and informal character development initiatives in school activities.

In December of 2010, the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education (CSEE) recognized The Peck School for its commitment to values-driven education, in which InDeCoRe plays a major role. CSEE is a national association of schools that provides leading resources, expert voices, and an active forum for ethical growth and spiritual development in academically rigorous schools.  Peck is one of the first schools nationally to have received this honor.

Around the same time, the School was asked to contribute a chapter to CSEE’s upcoming book Making Our Pact: Lower School Programs for Character Development.  The book describes the work that six schools throughout the country (including Peck) have done in taking those extra, intentional steps to deliver values-driven education and moral development initiatives.   CSEE hopes that the publishing of such a book will also enlighten and empower other schools to follow suit and evaluate their own set of community expectations.

Peck’s chapter consisted of a detailed review of InDeCoRe, written by the School’s former school psychologist Julie O’Rourke and current Fourth Grade teacher Antonia Pelaez.  The chapter begins with Peck’s InDeCoRe vision, boiled down to the simple, quintessential idea that “to be truly successful, good character is essential.”  The purpose of InDeCoRe is to “solidify the School’s partnership with parents to instill values, build morality, and develop character in the children while also teaching them to be responsible and responsive to their community.”

One recent example of  InDeCoRe in action is The School's January ROCK ON Week (Reach Out and Connect in Kindness, in an ONgoing manner), whereby the community celebrated it's core values with special activities and projects.  The student-driven PIC (Peck InDeCoRe Committee) organized an "iCare Bag" project that week for the entire school to donate and package toiletries for the Morristown Community Soup Kitchen and Outreach Center.  See photos here!

Making Our Pact has been distributed to CSEE member schools across the country in an effort to both consolidate and share data on the profound impact that character education programs and a shared vision can have on an school community.

The Peck School is creating a lending library of various character development books for parents, and Making Our Pact will be available when the initiative is up and running.  

To learn more about The Peck School, please visit us at www.peckschool.org or call Erin Ceder, Director of Admissions, at (973) 539-8660 x 117.