Our Programs
YESS INSTITUTE
Welcome to the YESS Classroom
Our unique Classroom Model program blends social-emotional learning curricula and peer leadership to support positive youth development in middle and high school students - a combination you won't find often.
Social Emtotional Learning
Our SEL Specialties
The YESS Academy Classroom cultivates an inclusive learning environment where students are encouraged and prepared to reconnect to a positive school culture.
Student mentees are matched with peer mentors and work one-on-one for an entire academic year developing SEL skills, academic supports, and leadership skills through the "Road to Success" curriculum.
Impact
Our Program Impact
Testimonials
What Community Leaders Are Saying
Road to success
Unlocking Student Potential
The Road to Success curriculum is a powerful, research-grounded social-emotional learning program built on the five core competencies of the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning and fully aligned with Colorado Department of Education standards. It is intentionally designed to meet the real needs of today’s students—equipping them with the skills, confidence, and resilience they need to thrive.
Every lesson is crafted to give students essential tools for lifelong success: building community and a sense of belonging, understanding personal identity, preventing drug and substance misuse, strengthening financial literacy, practicing accountability, and engaging in social justice with empathy and purpose. Students don’t just learn content, they learn how to navigate school, relationships, and life with clarity and confidence.
YESS Institute’s leadership in this field is nationally recognized. Our peer-mentoring expertise contributed to MENTOR’s Peer Mentoring Supplement: Elements of Effective Practice for Mentoring, in which YESS is featured as a model for effective, relationship-centered youth development.
Road to Success Curriculum
Road to Success is a comprehensive, research-anchored curriculum designed to meet the real developmental needs of today’s youth. Across six interdisciplinary units and more than 250 hours of instruction, students engage in learning shaped by the latest insights in adolescent brain development, trauma-informed care, and mental health support.
Every element is aligned with best practices in positive youth development and cross-age peer leadership, ensuring students not only gain essential skills but also learn to lead, support one another, and build healthier school communities.
Road to Success doesn’t just teach content—it equips young people with the resilience, emotional intelligence, and leadership capacity they need to thrive in school and in life.
Peer Leadership Development
When students lead, schools change. Through one-on-one support and small peer-led groups, YESS students create a more equitable, inclusive learning environment where every young person feels confident enough to learn, connect, and cope with the challenges of adolescence.
Research is unequivocal: adolescents are most influenced by other adolescents. Young people model the norms, behaviors, and aspirations of the peers they trust and want to belong to. YESS harnesses this powerful dynamic by training students to become positive leaders who elevate their peers, strengthen school culture, and set healthier norms across the entire cohort.
Peer leadership isn’t an add-on. It’s the engine that drives lasting change in student behavior, belonging, and well-being.
Course Cotents
What's included?
We bring our expert knowledge on best practices in positive youth development and mentoring – all to the highest CASEL standards– to your school.
- 880+ Page SEL Curriculum
- Unique Learning Paths
- Peer Leadership Model
- Facilitation Options
- Customizable Lessons
- Meets National Standards
