What makes your team work so well?  Please discuss in detail (e.g., what is your administrator’s role on the team, how is staff represented, etc.)? At Mariposa, our team is totally focused on our main objective which is to help the children of our school to achieve their goals both academically and behaviorally. When we make decisions, they are based upon the needs of the student population and how we can best support them to achieve our school’s expectations. Everyone expresses their opinions and we decide as a group the best solution or outcome. Our administration is also there to express their opinions and or concerns and supports our final decisions. We have people on our Core Team that take on their responsibilities and follow through until the task is completed. We are all willing to support each other to get the job done. We also have some excellent people on our Peripheral Team that have taken on projects and events with fantastic results. Our team is exactly that…a team.

How does your team use data to make decisions on campus? Our core team analyzes data to determine which areas need improvement. We then brainstorm ideas to figure out the best solution. We also look at data to see what is working so we may be able to use some of those areas to improve in others.  We used our data this year to set up a mentoring program for our students with many referrals. We continue to look at each child to determine is the mentoring is successful or if we need to make changes.

How do you share information with the rest of your faculty (e.g., emails, newsletters, meetings, etc.)?  How often do you share this information? Most of the time, our data is shared during the monthly staff meeting. We present the most significant data both good and bad. We also like to ask staff their opinion about certain trends in the data and also like to share stories of what is working and what is not working. This helps us to determine the areas we need to work on and how we may be able to help the staff improve on teaching and implementing the school expectations. The sharing of data is sometimes limited to the amount of time during the staff meeting available to present. We have recently begun to email a monthly newsletter to staff in order to share the highlights of PBS events and data.

What do you see as the overall strengths of your team?  Please provide details. As a team we work extremely well together due to the tremendous respect we have for each other. We are all working toward a common goal and always strive to make the best decisions for the good of the school. All members feel comfortable sharing their ideas which allows many different perspectives when tackling any issue. We believe our positive and supportive attitude sets an example for staff and students. We welcome the opinions of the school personnel and the student body and always take them into consideration when making decisions.

In what areas of PBS does your team excel (e.g., rewarding students/staff, teaching expectations, data-based decision-making, etc.)?  Please provide details below. As a team, we provide the school with many different ways to teach the expectations to their students.  In addition to the basic lesson plans, we have set up videos through United Streaming for each I CAN expectation.  An email is sent out reminding teachers of this month’s focus expectation.  For example, March was DO YOUR BEST.  Teachers were provided with a link to several grade-level videos to aid in teaching that expectation.  United Streaming offers excellent resources and activities to go along with each video. 

Our greatest strength is in the area of student rewards.  We have a scaffolding system of positive rewards that takes into consideration the interest of all grade levels.  These rewards are based on the I CAN expectations, and are obtainable by all students that are doing their best to meet them.  When students are “caught” displaying positive behaviors, they are rewarded with specific praise tied to the expectations and are often given Butterfly Bucks.  These bucks can be used to purchase items in our school store, which includes anything from pencils to MP3 players.  If students choose to save their bucks, they can participate in our quarterly Movie and a Treat.  Students also have the option to participate in various other events during the year, such as Jersey Day, Hat Day, T-Shirt Day, etc.  In addition to these rewards, teachers select four students a month to receive a Brag Tag.  Brag Tags are given to students who display exceptional behavior related to an I CAN expectation.  160 students per month are awarded Brag Tags.  Parents are invited to join the celebration of their child’s achievement.

Discuss the changes you have seen on campus since PBS implementation (e.g., data, climate, morale, etc.). Since PBS has been implemented at Mariposa, we have seen a decrease in student referrals and an increase in student achievement.  We believe this is due to our overall positive attitude and the use of common PBS language in our school.  Our students have become excited about positive behavior and are more focused on achieving academic and social success.  The majority of staff feels that the atmosphere of the school has changed for the best. 

What are some obstacles that your team has had to overcome?  Please explain the process for overcoming these hurdles below. One obstacle we have encountered has been our goal to achieve 100% buy-in from staff.  Although we have a large percentage of staff committed to PBS, we have made efforts to increase that number to meet our goal of 100%.  To obtain complete buy-in, we have continuously made staff aware that the PBS Team is available for questions or concerns.  We have at least one meeting a month that is open to all staff, and they are encouraged to come and express their opinions.  We have also given staff incentives, such as a work-day breakfast (Positive Breakfast Support).  Faculty members were also able to participate in a raffle for various gift cards.  As a team we are committed to obtaining support of all school personnel.