Take Me to Your RULER!
Written by Tim Buckley, September 2026
Rulers normally measure how far apart things are. In Salem and Keizer, however, schools and neighborhoods are using RULER to reduce distance…bringing people closer together.
RULER skills help you recognize and moderate your emotions. The Mood Meter, pasted to the fridge at home or to the classroom wall, allows you to let others know what is driving your behavior…. high energy or low, good mood or not. RULER stands for: Recognize, Understand, Label, Express, and Regulate.
With all the other things kids must master, why are “social-emotional skills” suddenly so important? Chris Moore, Director of Behavioral Health for the Salem-Keizer School District, said, “There’s a rising behavioral health crisis among both students and adults. Anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation are common expressions of that crisis.”
“Part of what’s driving the increase is the overwhelming demands on students and families, coupled with a hyperconnected world that paradoxically disconnects us from our own true needs and one another, " Moore continued. More adversity means greater stress. “The social fabric in our community is fraying. And it’s not just individual distress but community-wide distress.”
Distress manifests as conflicts between students or between students and staff, for example. It’s reflected in the high number of disciplinary actions and expulsion, lower attendance rates and lower academic achievement. Our district’s case is unique, he said:
“For a decade before 2000, the percentage of students considered to be economically disadvantaged in the Salem-Keizer area was about 30 percent. In the past two years, that number has reached 84 percent.”
“Despite having double the need, our district gets $2,000 to $3000 less per student each year than what Portland, Hillsboro and Beaverton districts receive.”
“The crisis creates an invitation for the district, and all of us, to re-evaluate how we show up as a community to care for the whole child and, more than that, for the whole family,” Moore continued. “We’re called on to deliver foundational skills for students so that they can show up at school and be ready to learn. Simultaneously, we have to be sensitive to the different lived experiences the kids are bringing with them, and equip our staff to understand and respond appropriately, allowing them to be there in ways that help prepare kids to succeed.”
Employing social-emotional skills like Character Strong and RULER alone won’t change district trends overnight. “But their use in schools is part of the reason student achievement numbers are inching up,” Moore said. “If they’re emotionally healthy, they’re more likely to show up, eager to learn.”
Addressing that point, Yoshikai Elementary Principal Jesse Leonard said that use of the RULER system for only one school year has already had a dramatic impact. “Disciplinary referrals were down 50 percent from the year before,” he said. “More importantly, school suspensions were reduced by 70 percent, and student attendance increased by eight percent.”
CBEL’s partnership with Yoshikai could accelerate that change, bringing RULER skills directly to parents living in neighborhoods surrounding those schools.
Now trained in RULER, two CBEL staff and two members of CBEL’s Neighborhood Family Councils are offering free training to individuals and families in both Spanish and English. Since the first class earlier in the year, nearly 90 people from CBEL’s seven neighborhoods have graduated from the training.
Taught over three nights a week apart, each two-hour class is preceded with a sit-down dinner. Some parents bring their children into the class to learn side by side. Otherwise, childcare is in another room where providers engage the younger children in games that also involve RULER learning. CBEL executive director Eduardo Angulo, who jumpstarted the collaboration three years ago at Cummings Elementary, said that his goal is to have RULER taught in each of the schools in CBEL neighborhoods. “We would then provide companion RULER classes to neighbors living around the school, many of whom are parents to the school children.”
Moore added, “Teachers, and the district as a whole, are doing their best to provide students the things they need to succeed, but it’s crucial that we find more community partners, like CBEL, to help us fulfill our promise to students.”
“We’re fortunate in Salem and Keizer to have a community that understands the value of collaboration,” he said. After acknowledging CBEL, Moore named other important community partners that share the same goals, and shoulder part of the responsibility for successful schools and a healthy community:
Salem Leadership Foundation
Epping Family Foundation
Salem Health
Catholic Community Services
Mountain West Investment’s Center for Community Excellence
“These and other organizations are aligning in efficient ways to meet the needs of the community,” Moore continued. “And as I looked at the Mood Meter this morning, a word jumped out to express my feeling about our collaboration. One word is grateful. The other is hopeful.”