A New Tradition: How Students Shaped Their Social Contract

This year in Middle School, something brand new took shape at Westside. For the first time, students worked together to build a Middle School Social Contract. Not a list of rules handed down from adults, but a shared agreement created by the people who live this experience every day: our students.

And it wasn’t something that came together overnight. Students spent the start of the year talking, reflecting, testing ideas, and figuring out what we all need to feel safe, supported, and ready to learn.

At the very start of the year, each grade level learned about what a social contract is and why it matters. On fall trips, students noticed what community looked like when they were hiking, cooking together, or tackling challenges as a group. Those experiences helped shape their ideas about what kind of Middle School they wanted to come back to.

Then, in advisory, students wrote personal hopes for the year. Maybe they wanted to feel more confident speaking in class, be a better friend, or read 11 books. They talked about what they needed from others to make those hopes happen, and also what they could give in return. From there, each advisory sent 2 representatives to a grade-level meeting. These students came together to attempt to reflect the conversations their advisories had had and consolidate their ideas into a proposal for a social contract. Then, from each of these grade level groups, two representatives per grade were asked to join the final draft committee. This committee worked over the course of two days' worth of breaks to make something they felt represented the entire middle school.

This process was grounded in Developmental Designs, an approach that supports the social, emotional, and academic growth of middle schoolers. It emphasizes shared responsibility, belonging, and respectful communication, which are all essential elements of the Social Contract process. By using these principles, students didn’t just create expectations; they practiced the very skills that make community-building possible.

All of that student voice eventually shaped five core agreements that make up the Social Contract:

• Support a positive, calm, and focused learning environment
• Be kind and encouraging
• Be accountable for your actions, work, and environment
• Be open-minded
• Demonstrate inclusivity

Westside’s Middle School community celebrated that work at our first-ever Social Contract Convention. Students shared the final version with the whole Middle School, and each advisory publicly affirmed their commitment to it.  The room was full of pride, cheering, and a real sense of “Wow, we built this.”

Later, everyone signed it. Now, the Social Contract lives in our classrooms and hallways. Teachers use it to help students reflect and problem-solve. Students reference it when they talk about what’s working and what’s not. 

This Social Contract marks the start of a new Middle School tradition at Westside. Students are not just talking about what community means. They are practicing it, shaping it, and making it their own.