Ridgeview Elementary School in El Paso County School District 49 was selected as one of 123 schools across the nation to earn the Capturing Kidsí Hearts Showcase School Award for the 2017-2018 school year. The award is presented by the Flippen Group, a management consulting firm in Texas.According to the firmís website, the Capturing Kidsí Hearts program provides a framework that helps educators ìexperience socio-emotional learning techniques that will provide them with classroom facilitation tools for peaking student interest, establishing collaborative agreements of behavior in every classroom, creating high performing groups, increasing pro-social skills, creating more time on-task, and increasing student performance.îTheresa Ritz, principal at RVES, said the school began implementing the program about four years ago, along with the other schools in the POWER zone.ìThis award validates the Ridgeview staff for capturing the hearts of our students every day,î Ritz said. ìCaring relationships between staff and students, between staff, and between staff and parents are the foundation for everything else that we achieve. Educating children is challenging work and a positive school culture matters.ìWe are educators because we want to be difference-makers in the lives of kids, and this award symbolizes the difference this staff is making for our students. I am exceedingly proud of Ridgeview teachers and staff and honored to be a part of such a wonderful school.î
