Gina Courtois

WARSAW — Warsaw Community Schools is proud to announce the hiring of Gina Courtois for the position of social emotional learning coordinator for the district. Courtois, who currently works as an educator at Madison Elementary School, will transition into the position throughout the remainder of the 2017-2018 school year and will officially assume her role during the summer.

A new position at Warsaw Schools funded through grant dollars from the award of a Lilly Endowment Grant, the SEL position is critical for the successful implementation of district-wide k-12 curriculum, methodology and instructional practices to increase student and educator learning as part of the Lilly Endowment Grant. Courtois will work to build and deepen a positive school climate and culture by training on how to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals and feelings and show empathy for others. In addition, Courtois will be responsible for the direct support to school staff on SEL programming including standards, staff development, curriculum and assessment.

Courtois attended Indiana Wesleyan University, where she attained her bachelor’s degree in elementary education with an endorsement in kindergarten instruction. She continued her education at Olivet Nazarene University, where she completed her master’s program in education with a 4.0 GPA.

Following her graduation, Courtois has spent the past 17 years of her career teaching elementary students at Madison Elementary. In addition to her role in the classroom, Courtois has worked as the response to intervention chair as well as a member of the learning crew mentoring first and second year kindergarten teachers, a building-level mentor for new teachers and a professional leadership team member.

Complimenting her experience in the classroom, Courtois has completed trainings and has experience writing grants which have provided over $10,000 for Madison Elementary throughout her tenure teaching there.

“Warsaw Community Schools is extremely excited to welcome Courtois into this new position enriching the lives of others,” stated Dr. David Hoffert, superintendent of Warsaw Community Schools. “Her years of experience and expertise working with both WCS teachers and students will be a great strength in the Social Emotional Learning Coordinator position. We look forward to working alongside Courtois to develop and expand social emotional wellness inside of all of our buildings.”