Quick Answer
CharacterStrong's PurposeFull People and Be The Buffalo Classroom both cover K-5 social-emotional learning and character education. They differ in delivery model, weekly lesson structure, evidence base, assessment tooling, and pricing.
PurposeFull People is CharacterStrong's PreK-5 curriculum, delivered through a digital portal that requires teacher login. Weekly lessons are structured in five components totaling 30 to 60 minutes and can be taught as one weekly block or split across the week. CharacterStrong was acquired by FullBloom in February 2025.[1][7]
Be The Buffalo Classroom is a K-5 specific curriculum built for projector-led whole-class delivery, with 40 weeks of content per grade band, no student accounts, and native bilingual English and Spanish delivery.[8]
The decision typically comes down to whether you need an integrated ecosystem with assessment tooling and a documented RCT evidence base (PurposeFull People), or lower prep, higher weekly dosage, and native bilingual delivery in a K-5 specific package (Be The Buffalo).
Key Takeaways
- •PurposeFull People has 36 weekly lessons per grade with a five-component structure. Be The Buffalo has 40 weeks of content organized by grade band.
- •PurposeFull People has one CASEL-approved randomized controlled trial in grades 2-5. Be The Buffalo does not yet have a published RCT.[4][9]
- •PurposeFull People includes bundled assessment tools (SEL competencies scale, school climate scale). Be The Buffalo does not currently include a bundled assessment toolkit.
- •Both programs offer Spanish content. PurposeFull People translates program materials into Spanish. Be The Buffalo delivers English and Spanish as a native toggle.
- •Since February 2025, CharacterStrong operates within FullBloom Mental Health, a division of the larger FullBloom platform.[7]
What is PurposeFull People?
PurposeFull People is CharacterStrong's PreK-5 SEL and character education curriculum. CharacterStrong was founded in 2016 in Auburn, Washington. In February 2025, CharacterStrong was acquired by FullBloom and now operates within FullBloom's mental health division.[1][7]
Structure. 36 weekly lessons per grade level, organized around one character trait per month across nine months. Ten character traits total: Kindness, Courage, Respect, Responsibility, Perseverance, Empathy, Cooperation, Creativity, Honesty, and Gratitude.
Weekly lesson design. Each weekly lesson has five components: Start (5-10 minutes), Connect (5-10 minutes), Grow (20-30 minutes), Respond (5-10 minutes), and Exit (5-10 minutes). Total weekly dosage runs 30 to 60 minutes or more. Educators can teach the full lesson as one 45-60 minute weekly block or split it into one component per day.[2]
Delivery. Digital delivery through an interactive online portal. Teachers need a computer and secured login. Universal Design for Learning approach, with content available in audio, visual, and written formats.[6]
SEL competencies covered. Three foundational areas: Emotion Regulation Skills, Social Skills, and Executive Functioning Skills. Ten character traits are integrated across these competencies.
Adult SEL components. Includes “Staff Pursuits” exercises for teachers and the SERVE Model for Adult Relationship Practices. Whole-staff training runs three hours for initial implementation.
Assessment tools included. Elementary Social-Emotional Competencies Scale aligned with the CASEL framework, including Educator Rating of Whole Class, Educator Rating of Individual Students, and Student Self-Rating for grades 3-5. Also includes the Elementary School Climate Scale for grades 3-5.
Language support. Program materials available in English and Spanish per CASEL Program Guide. Home components are downloadable as PDFs in Spanish. A Spanish version of the scope and sequence is published.[3][4]
Evidence.CASEL Program Guide lists PurposeFull People with evidence of effectiveness in grades 2-5. The supporting study is an unpublished 2024 report of a 2022-2023 randomized controlled trial with 354 students in grades 2-5 across urban and rural US Midwest schools. Evidence for ESSA rates the program in the “Strong” tier.[4][5][9]
MTSS integration. CharacterStrong markets PurposeFull People as Tier 1, with Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports available through the broader CharacterStrong ecosystem. After the FullBloom acquisition, mental health interventions are integrated across the FullBloom platform.
What is Be The Buffalo Classroom?
Be The Buffalo Classroom is a K-5 specific SEL and character education curriculum published by Mindwired Labs LLC. It was designed for the elementary developmental band without a K-12 vertical to accommodate.[8]
Structure. 40 weeks of content per grade band. Three elementary grade bands: K-1, 2-3, and 4-5.
Delivery. Projector-led whole class. The teacher opens the curriculum on their own device and projects the day's or week's content. No student accounts. No student devices. No student login.
Content library. Weekly projector activities, illustrated stories (including choose-your-own-adventure formats for grades 4-5), original SEL songs, printables, and a 40-week lesson planner with CASEL color-coding. Safety modules cover topics such as lockdown response in age-appropriate format.
Language support. English and Spanish delivered as parallel native modes through a single interface toggle. Not a translation layer added to English content.
Prep time. Zero. Lessons are designed to be opened and taught without preparation.
Evidence.No published RCT at this time. Not yet listed in the CASEL Program Guide or Evidence for ESSA. CASEL competency alignment is documented in the curriculum's own materials.
Pricing. Free tier covering the first four weeks of content. Full curriculum is $149.99 per teacher per year.
Direct Comparison
| Feature | PurposeFull People (CharacterStrong) | Be The Buffalo Classroom |
|---|---|---|
| Grade band | PreK-5, within a K-12 vertical | K-5 specific |
| Weekly content | 36 weekly lessons per grade | 40 weeks per grade band |
| Grade organization | Per-grade (PreK, K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) | Grade bands (K-1, 2-3, 4-5) |
| Weekly lesson structure | 5 components (Start, Connect, Grow, Respond, Exit) | Varies by content type |
| Weekly dosage | 30-60+ minutes | Varies |
| Character traits focus | 10 traits, one per month across 9 months | Character education integrated throughout |
| Delivery | Digital portal, teacher login required | Projector-led whole class |
| Student accounts required | No (teacher-facing platform) | No |
| Student devices required | No for lesson delivery | No |
| Teacher prep required | 3-hour whole-staff training + weekly preview | Zero |
| Spanish support | Translated materials, Spanish scope & sequence, Spanish home PDFs | Native English/Spanish toggle |
| CASEL Program Guide | Yes, evidence in grades 2-5 | Not yet listed |
| Published RCT | Yes (unpublished report of 2022-23 trial, 354 students grades 2-5) | None yet |
| ESSA evidence tier | “Strong” rating | Not yet |
| Assessment toolkit | Included (SEL competencies scale, school climate scale) | Not currently included |
| Adult SEL component | SERVE Model, Staff Pursuits | Not currently offered |
| MTSS Tier 2/3 pathway | Yes, through CharacterStrong ecosystem | Not currently offered |
| Publisher | CharacterStrong (a FullBloom company as of Feb 2025) | Mindwired Labs LLC |
| Founded | 2016 | 2024 |
| Free content | No | Yes, first 4 weeks |
Delivery Model: What Actually Happens in the Classroom
The two programs put different things on the teacher's plate.
PurposeFull People
Teacher logs in to the CharacterStrong portal, opens the current lesson, and delivers it. The five-component structure (Start, Connect, Grow, Respond, Exit) can run as one 45-60 minute weekly block or as one component per day. Teachers work from scripted content with photos, videos, and activity instructions. The digital portal also holds the Implementation Roadmap, PD content, and family resources.[2]
Be The Buffalo
Teacher opens the curriculum on their own laptop or classroom computer and projects it. The class watches together. No student login, no student handout distribution, no per-student device.[8]
Be The Buffalo projector view — the teacher opens and projects, no student devices needed
The choice tends to come down to two factors: whether your school prefers digital-portal-and-workflow or projector-and-teach, and whether your teachers have time (or willingness) to work through a five-part scripted weekly lesson structure versus a whole-class watch-and-discuss model. Neither delivery model is inherently better. Both fit different implementation contexts.
Weekly Structure and Dosage
PurposeFull People's five-component weekly lesson is intentionally granular. Each component has its own function (relational warm-up, connection activity, direct instruction, application, closure). The design supports both concentrated weekly delivery and spread-across-the-week delivery. Total weekly dosage is 30 to 60 minutes.
Be The Buffalo delivers 40 weeks of content per grade band as ready-to-teach material. The instructional design does not follow a scripted five-part weekly template. Teachers open the day's or week's content and project it.
The relevant tradeoff: PurposeFull People's structure provides more instructional scaffolding for teachers who want that scaffolding, at the cost of the prep and complexity of managing a five-part lesson. Be The Buffalo trades away that scaffolding in exchange for lower prep and simpler delivery. Neither is universally better. Both models produce results when implemented with fidelity.
Bilingual Support
Both programs offer Spanish, but through different models.
PurposeFull People provides program materials in English and Spanish, including a Spanish version of the scope and sequence and Spanish PDFs of home components. This is a translation model: English content is the source, and Spanish is available as a translated version.[3]
Be The Buffalo Classroom builds English and Spanish as parallel native delivery modes, controlled by an interface toggle. The Spanish content is designed as native delivery rather than as a translation layer.
Be The Buffalo bilingual toggle — one click switches the entire lesson between English and Spanish
The practical difference matters most in classrooms that switch between languages during a single lesson, serve mixed-language groups, or need Spanish delivery to feel equivalent to English rather than adjacent to it. In classrooms where English is the primary instructional language and Spanish is used for family communication, the translation model works well.
Evidence Base
PurposeFull People has a documented evidence base. Be The Buffalo does not yet. Any comparison article that softens this is not worth trusting.
PurposeFull People's supporting evidence is a 2022-2023 multi-site cluster randomized trial by Zhang, Cook, and Larson. The study included 354 students in grades 2-5 across urban and rural schools in the US Midwest, with a 16-week measurement window. Findings included statistically significant improvements in demonstrated behavioral expectations and motivation compared to controls. The study earned PurposeFull People CASEL Program Guide status with evidence of effectiveness in grades 2-5 and an Evidence for ESSA “Strong” tier rating.[4][5][9]
Two contextual notes on this evidence base
First,the supporting RCT is one study with 354 students over 16 weeks. It is a real study that produced statistically significant findings. It is also smaller and shorter than the multi-year, multi-thousand-student RCT record behind, for example, Second Step. CASEL's grades 2-5 evidence designation reflects what the study measured, not the full grade range PurposeFull People targets. Evidence for PreK-1 within the PurposeFull People product is less established.
Second, the study is listed in CASEL as an unpublished report from 2024. Unpublished RCTs are common in the SEL vendor space and do not automatically indicate weakness, but peer-reviewed publication would strengthen the evidence claim.
Be The Buffalo does not currently have an RCT or peer-reviewed evidence. This is a real gap. For districts where procurement requires ESSA-tier evidence, PurposeFull People meets that bar and Be The Buffalo does not. For teachers, counselors, and schools where evidence tier is one factor among several, the comparison shifts to fit, dosage, delivery model, and cost.
Assessment and Tier 2/3 Support
PurposeFull People includes bundled assessment tools: the Elementary Social-Emotional Competencies Scale (educator and student self-rating versions) and the Elementary School Climate Scale for grades 3-5. These are integrated into the curriculum platform.
CharacterStrong's broader ecosystem, now integrated with FullBloom, includes Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports beyond the Tier 1 PurposeFull People curriculum. This matters for districts implementing a full MTSS model.
Be The Buffalo does not currently offer a bundled assessment toolkit or a distinct Tier 2/3 product line. Schools that need integrated assessment or tiered intervention pathways would need to source those separately.
Cost
Direct pricing comparison is difficult because both vendors quote based on district size and configuration.
CharacterStrong pricing is not published publicly and is quoted directly to schools and districts. Since the FullBloom acquisition, packaging and pricing may have shifted; verify with a current quote.
Be The Buffalo offers a free tier covering the first four weeks of content. Full curriculum access is $149.99 per teacher per year. Because there is no separate print kit and no per-classroom hardware, total cost of ownership at the school level depends primarily on subscription cost.[8]
For a single teacher, counselor, or small school, the free tier plus subscription model is likely lower total cost than a CharacterStrong district contract. For a large district that would already absorb enterprise-level SEL pricing, the total cost gap narrows and the decision shifts to fit rather than cost alone.
Prep Time
CharacterStrong requires a three-hour whole-staff training for initial implementation, plus embedded online orientation modules of 30 minutes or less. The five-component weekly lesson structure requires some teacher preview per lesson.
Be The Buffalo advertises zero teacher prep. Lessons are designed to be opened and taught without preparation. This is achievable partly because the delivery model is projector-led whole class rather than teacher-facilitated with scripted questions, handouts, and multi-component pacing.
Any vendor's prep-time claim deserves testing. The honest way to verify is to request a sample lesson from each vendor at your grade level and time yourself preparing to teach it.
Which is Right for Your School?
District with procurement requirements for ESSA-tier evidence. PurposeFull People meets this bar for grades 2-5. Be The Buffalo does not yet.
School implementing a full MTSS model with integrated Tier 1, 2, and 3 supports. PurposeFull People plugs into the CharacterStrong and FullBloom ecosystem. Be The Buffalo is Tier 1 only.
School that wants a bundled assessment toolkit alongside the curriculum. PurposeFull People includes assessment scales. Be The Buffalo does not currently.
School with limited teacher time and low tolerance for scripted multi-component lesson structures. Be The Buffalo's projector-led model is lower friction. PurposeFull People's five-component weekly structure is more scaffolded but heavier.
School with large Spanish-speaking population and mixed-language classrooms. Be The Buffalo's native bilingual toggle is designed for this. PurposeFull People provides translated materials, which serves the same population differently.
Small school, single teacher, or counselor with tight budget. Be The Buffalo's free tier removes the up-front barrier. CharacterStrong contracts are typically priced at the school or district level.
School with limited device infrastructure or a phone-free instructional philosophy. Be The Buffalo's projector-led model reduces per-student device requirements. PurposeFull People runs from the teacher's device but is designed around portal-based digital delivery.
PreK implementation. PurposeFull People covers PreK explicitly. Be The Buffalo is K-5 only.
Schools that want an integrated adult SEL and staff practice framework. PurposeFull People's SERVE Model and Staff Pursuits provide this. Be The Buffalo does not currently.
What the Research Says
The overall SEL evidence base is well established. A 2011 meta-analysis by Durlak and colleagues, published in Child Development, reviewed 213 school-based SEL programs and found an 11-percentile-point academic achievement gain for students in SEL programs compared to controls. Follow-up meta-analyses have generally supported these findings.[10]
Program-level evidence varies significantly. PurposeFull People has one CASEL-recognized RCT supporting effectiveness in grades 2-5. Be The Buffalo has no published RCT. Second Step, for reference, has multi-year RCTs with thousands of students and decades of research behind it.
Implementation quality and dosage fidelity matter substantially. A curriculum with strong published evidence that teachers do not actually teach with fidelity will underperform a curriculum with weaker evidence that teachers use consistently. This is a real finding across the SEL research literature, not a hedge to level the playing field.
How to Run a Fair Comparison at Your School
If you are deciding between PurposeFull People and Be The Buffalo for a real adoption:
- 1Define your must-haves before evaluating either program. Evidence tier, MTSS integration, assessment requirements, budget, language demographics.
- 2Request a demo of the digital portal from CharacterStrong. Request access to the free tier from Be The Buffalo. Compare the actual experience of opening and preparing a lesson.
- 3Ask both vendors for their published scope and sequence in writing.
- 4Ask both vendors about contract length, cancellation terms, and post-acquisition pricing changes (for CharacterStrong specifically, given the FullBloom acquisition may affect terms).
- 5Talk to at least two current customer schools of similar size to yours for each program. Not just the reference schools the vendor introduces you to.
Sources
- CharacterStrong. “PurposeFull People.” characterstrong.com
- CharacterStrong. “PurposeFull People Home Curriculum Portal.” curriculum.characterstrong.com
- CharacterStrong. “Updated PurposeFull People Scope and Sequence (2023).” characterstrong.com
- CASEL Program Guide. “CharacterStrong's PurposeFull People.” pg.casel.org
- Evidence for ESSA. “CharacterStrong's PurposeFull People Elementary Curriculum.” evidenceforessa.org
- Mental Health Instruction. “CharacterStrong's PurposeFull People.” mentalhealthinstruction.org
- FullBloom. “FullBloom Acquires CharacterStrong.” February 26, 2025. fullbloom.org
- Be The Buffalo Classroom. bethebuffaloclassroom.com
- Zhang, Y., Cook, C., & Larson, M. (2023). A multi-site cluster randomized trial of CharacterStrong's PurposeFull People elementary SEL and character education program. Unpublished report. SAGE Journals
- Durlak, J. A., Weissberg, R. P., Dymnicki, A. B., Taylor, R. D., & Schellinger, K. B. (2011). The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: A meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. Child Development, 82(1), 405–432. PubMed
What the Research Says
(and Doesn't Say)
The overall SEL evidence base is well established. A 2011 meta-analysis by Durlak and colleagues found an 11-percentile-point academic achievement gain for students in SEL programs compared to controls.
Program-level evidence varies significantly. PurposeFull People has one CASEL-recognized RCT. Be The Buffalo has no published RCT. Implementation quality and dosage fidelity matter substantially.
Research also shows:
- PurposeFull People has one CASEL-recognized RCT supporting effectiveness in grades 2-5 with 354 students.
- Second Step has multi-year RCTs with thousands of students and decades of research behind it, for reference.
- A curriculum with strong evidence that teachers don't use consistently will underperform one with weaker evidence that teachers actually use. This is a real finding, not a hedge.
Follow-up meta-analyses since 2011 have generally supported Durlak's findings, with specific effect sizes and mediating factors continuing to be studied.
This article compares two specific K-5 SEL programs. Be The Buffalo publishes this article and is transparent about that relationship throughout.
Want to see how Be The Buffalo works?
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Related Resources
Second Step vs Be The Buffalo
A head-to-head comparison for K-5 SEL
CharacterStrong Alternatives (2026)
Comparing K-5 SEL and character education programs
Best SEL Curriculum for Elementary (2026)
A practical guide to choosing SEL curriculum
How to Choose an SEL Curriculum
What to look for, what to avoid, and the right questions to ask