Community of Caring: Character Education That Works
Caring | Respect | responsibility | trust | family
The University of Utah is proud to be the site of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Center for Community of Caring. Community of Caring is built around five core values that empower young people to be responsible and caring members of a community: Caring, Respect, Responsibility, Trust, and Family. These five values serve as a foundation and umbrella for school activities and initiatives in Community of Caring schools. Our schoolwide, K-12 program helps schools become caring, respectful, responsible, trustworthy, and family-oriented communities. In doing so, we put children, teachers, and school staff at the center of education, weaving the core values into every aspect of school life and the existing curriculum.
Community of Caring is the program that caring schools select. The Community of Caring program is an evidence-based, nationally-recognized character education program in over 1,200 schools in 46 states nation-wide and in Canada.
"In Community of Caring, we believe the quality of caring we give to our parents, to our brothers and sisters, to our families, to our friends and neighbors, and to the poor and the powerless endows a life, a community with respect, hope and happiness."
Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Founder
NEW! Click here to print out a certificate you can use to honor students who have gone above and beyond to create a Community of Caring. Want it in a word document format? Click here.
Click here for a postcard you can send home to parents to acknowledge a student who has demonstrated one of the core values.
Articles & Letters
Education Week: Social-Skills Programs
Found to Yield Gains in Academic Subjects by Debra Viadero
Education Week: How Measuring School Climate Can Improve Your School by Jonathan Cohen and Terry Pickeral
Community of Caring EndorsEments & Recognitions
Why do schools adopt Community of Caring?
Community of Caring...
- fosters character and citizenship development
- improves school attendance and academic performance
- improves school climate and creates a caring school community
- fosters greater acceptance of diversity, including students with intellectual disabilities
- creates safer school environments by preventing bullying and other forms of violence
- prevents teen pregnancy with a youth development focus
- reduces tobacco, drug and alcohol use
- helps implement school reform
Click here to see research and results!
