Spring Branch ISD Featured News

Prekindergarten families and students at Spring Branch ISD’s Tiger Trail School for Early Learning are participating in yoga lessons to promote healthy habits.

Taught by the school’s intervention specialist, Sarah Vier, the yoga lessons are part of the school’s focus on the mental, physical and emotional well-being of their families and students.

“These classes help parents to learn strategies of relaxation, self-regulation and breathing that they can bring home to teach their entire family,” Tiger Trail Director Mandy Ruiz said.

Creating a positive school community by engaging parents in the classes is another benefit to offering the monthly classes. “The parents are loving a chance to have a relaxing 45-minutes break and we even have a dad joining the sessions,” Ruiz said.

On National Parental Involvement Day (Nov. 18) we are reminded that families play a critical role in the success of Every Child in Spring Branch ISD. When families are engaged, we see a significant boost in student academic success including higher literacy achievement rates, better grades, increased test scores, improved social skills and behavior, and more overall positivity about school.

In addition to the adult classes she teaches, Vier also is leading yoga sessions with four-year-old students at Tiger Trail who are learning the same relaxation techniques and body-strengthening poses as their parents. 

“It is so cute to see a room full of four-year-old’s working on their breathing and self-regulation strategies through yoga poses,” Ruiz said. 

Vier began monthly yoga classes with the students last year, and decided to offer the same for parents this year. “Since campuses were closed to visitors last school year, I thought this would be a great way to get parents back into our school while also helping with physical and emotional stress,” Vier said. 

The Spring Branch ISD Core Characteristics of a T-2-4 Ready Graduate are our aspirations for who we want out students to become while in school. Providing Tiger Trail pre-K students with skills for self-control and self-care through yoga is an excellent way to get early an early start developing the Core Characteristic of being Empathic & Self-aware, one breath at a time.