Member Directory

Address	901 Preston Ave Suite 201 Charlottesville, Virginia 22903
Phone	(703) 963-7971
Website	http://www.thefaceproject.org
Primary Contact	Dan Price
Primary Email	danpsy@aol.com
Executive Director	Penny Harrison-Latham
Primary Focus Area	Education
Service Areas

Mission Statement

The FACE Project is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to use character education to promote positive social and emotional development of students in preK-5th grade, increase socially responsible positive behaviors, reduce antisocial behaviors and foster a healthy school environment.

Overview

In 1999 the Virginia Legislature passed a law mandating that character education be taught in all classrooms in Virginia. The FACE Project developed an elementary school curriculum with lesson plans that integrate Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs) to help schools meet Virginia’s unfunded character education requirements.

Since its inception in 2002, the FACE Project has provided its program to more than 10,000 students in 12 school divisions throughout 8 counties in Virginia. The FACE Project’s school-based Character Education program for students in preschool through 5th Grade provides a curricula package for teachers and counselors of roughly 30 weekly lessons per grade that is designed to promote tolerance, empathy, respect and celebrating differences. The FACE Project developed the curricula package in close collaboration with teachers and counselors to improve classroom management and facilitate achievement of school-wide social and emotional development goals. The curricula use the Six Pillars of Character as a framework for teaching good character. In addition, the curricula incorporate the key Socio-Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies: self-awareness, self-management, responsible decision-making, relationship skills, and social awareness.

The FACE project promotes a multi-stakeholder approach engaging teachers, school principals, counselors and administrators; parents and community members (e.g. parent liaison and parent newsletter); and students in both the strategic planning, project implementation and evaluation process. As part of this approach, the FACE project leverages family and community partnerships, which are key constructs under the SEL framework. The FACE Project provides in-service training to teachers and counselors in addition to follow-up consultations and classroom observations to build capacity and promote best practices.