The Drool School SEL Curriculum

The Drool School curriculum is a story and skills-based Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) program for elementary students in grades K-5. Built around the real-life adventures of four Great Danes — Jazz, Beau, Aryanna, and Zeus — every unit pairs an engaging story with hands-on activities, reflection, and practice that students can apply the same day.

The curriculum is intentionally aligned with CASEL's five core competencies and the New York State Social Emotional Learning Benchmarks, so it slots naturally into classroom goals and district SEL plans.

Built on the New York State SEL Goals

New York State's SEL benchmarks center on three goals. Drool School lessons are mapped to each:

• Goal 1 - Self-Awareness and Agency: Students develop self-awareness that nurtures a strong sense of identity, informs their actions, and builds agency. In Drool School, students learn to recognize and name their emotions, notice where they feel them in their bodies, and practice simple self-regulation tools, with a little help from a Great Dane who knows a thing or two about big feelings.
• Goal 2 - Relationships and Belonging: Students use social awareness and interpersonal skills to build mutually supportive relationships and a strong sense of belonging. The Drool Crew's friendships model empathy, listening, appreciating differences, and navigating conflict.
• Goal 3 - Responsible Decision-Making: Students demonstrate intentional decision-making that considers the safety and well-being of themselves and others. Every story presents real-world choices, and students practice generating solutions, weighing outcomes, and making thoughtful decisions.

Differentiated by Grade Band

Lessons follow the developmental bands in the NYS benchmarks:

• Early Elementary (K-2): Naming basic emotions, simple self-regulation (like belly breathing), recognizing similarities and differences, setting short-term goals, and identifying ways to help their classroom and family.
• Late Elementary (3-5): Identifying complex emotions and their causes, practicing coping strategies, communicating across differences, applying multi-step decision-making, and taking action to support their school and community.

What a Unit Looks Like

Each monthly theme includes a Drool Crew story, discussion prompts, skill-building activities, reflection and practice, simple assessment check-ins for teachers, and a family engagement component so the learning continues at home. Activities also connect to ELA standards in speaking and listening.

For Educators and Districts

Drool School is designed for easy classroom integration, no specialist required. Teachers receive implementation guidance, differentiated objectives for K-2 and 3-5, and adaptation strategies for diverse learners, including English Language Learners and students with IEPs.

Interested in bringing Drool School to your classroom, school, or district? Start a conversation.

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