Capturing Kids' Hearts

Collierville Schools has been named a 2025–2026 Capturing Kids’ Hearts® (CKH) National Showcase Schools District Award winner, a national honor recognizing districts that demonstrate a strong commitment to building safe, supportive, and relationship-centered school environments.

The recognition reflects the district’s consistent and intentional implementation of the Capturing Kids’ Hearts Process, which focuses on strengthening relationships, building trust, and creating a positive culture for students and staff alike.

The Capturing Kids’ Heart process is currently implemented in all nine schools in the district. Capturing Kids’ Hearts is not just a program. It’s a culture-shifting, sustainable process that can be used in classrooms, during staff meetings, in athletic programs, in cafeterias, on school buses, and in homes. As taught in the experiential trainings listed below, the process is designed to directly impact every aspect of our school community.

A classroom social contract poster lists values like kindness, fun, helpfulness, and sharing, with student names signed below.

How does it work?

Teachers use the EXCEL model to communicate with students. Students work collaboratively to create their own rules via a social contract. Students hold each other accountable using “checks” and “fouls” An environment is created that emphasizes positivity through “good things” and “affirmations”.

Engage: Students are greeted at the door with a handshake, hug, or high-five with eye contact and a sincere welcome.

X-plore: Teachers listen and attend to the personal, emotional, and academic needs of our students.

Communicate: Teachers communicate care as well as content.

Empower: Teachers empower students to gain the ability to “use and do” the things they have been taught.

Launch: Deals with how we “end and send” our students into the world. The purpose is to start our students on a course of action by ending our classes on a powerful note.

The Social Contract

The Social Contract is created by the students, assisted by the teacher, in an effort to answer four questions regarding the environment of the classroom.

The four questions include:

How do you want to be treated by the teacher?
How do you want to be treated by each other?
How do you think the teacher wants to be treated by you?
How do we want to treat each other when there is conflict?

The resulting answers make up a list of adjectives which serve as the basis for student expectations of behavior in the classroom.

The Social Contract is signed by all classroom members including the teacher.

The document is also shown to classroom visitors and they are encouraged to sign the contract as well.

The document is referred to on a regular basis to highlight success and serves as a guide for when programs arise.

The Four Behavior Questions:

These are the questions that we asked to help stay true to the social contract:

What are you doing?
What are you supposed to be doing?
Are you doing that?
What are you going to do about that?

Good Things:

At the beginning of classes teachers will start with good things, in which students share something good that is going on with them. This creates an environment of positivity and helps build relationships.

Checks and Fouls:

When a student is not following the social contract, other students will check that student. This is a silent reminder of a thumbs up to remind the student that they need to change their behavior.

When a student is being unkind, other students will foul that student. The student is then asked to give two put ups for the put down they gave.

Hear From Our Teachers!

A smiling woman in a teal shirt stands in a classroom with students working in the background.

Alissa Moore, Tara Oaks Elementary School

With the implementation of Capturing Kids' Hearts, I’m seeing my students show a new commitment to building culture, showing kindness, and creating a sense of belonging. All of my students are responding to each other in an incredibly positive way.

A woman with brown hair and a floral blouse smiles at the camera in a classroom setting.

Susie Johnson, Crosswind Elementary School

Implementing CKH in my classroom has helped refresh my enthusiasm for teaching and deepened my commitment to fostering meaningful relationships with my students. It truly has been the best thing that I have done in my classroom in my 30 years of teaching!

A woman with a warm smile stands in a classroom, wearing a colorful patterned shirt.