Of course, no matter how well our team works together and takes the needs of the school into consideration, we would not be able to make the impact that we have without the support of our administration.  Without question, they have made PBS a priority for Liberty, and all staff members have watched administration as they have acted in skits, been on the closed circuit TV. dressed up in costumes, and as they attend each and every PBS team meeting.  This quiet and unflagging message of support has filtered down to most of the staff and faculty.

How does your team use data to make decisions on campus? At each of our meetings, in addition to the hard data from SWIS we review, we talk about the “anecdotal” kinds of things that team members bring back from grade level meetings, or that we just hear.  We also use data collected by staff surveys.  We feel that assessing the overall level of support for PBS is just as important as reviewing the discipline data.  These concerns are always addressed by the team, and acted upon if needed.  
 

How do you share information with the rest of your faculty (e.g., emails, newsletters, meetings, etc.)?  How often do you share this information? Our most effective and time efficient method of sharing data is at monthly staff meetings.  Here, we use power points or other visual methods to review current data and discuss any potential problem areas with staff.  We would also use this venue to update staff as to what was shared in the PBS minutes, but found that staff felt they were not getting enough communication from PBS team.  Now all minutes are emailed to staff monthly, after each meeting of the PBS team. A monthly newsletter that goes home to families is also used to share PBS information.  Here, we discuss what targeted behaviors we are working on school wide, we give suggestions to parents as to how they can recognize these expectations at home, and we share criteria for attendance at the upcoming socials.

What do you see as the overall strengths of your team?  Please provide details. Our team has the ability to show compassion, flexibility, dedication, and open mindedness. At meetings all ideas are considered and discussed and accepted without judgment. All members bring concerns and ideas from other staff members to the meetings to share and problem solve. We all are friendly with each other and we have fun even when we have a lot to do. Our meetings are full of productive energy.

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. Our team excels at putting children first. Our rewards are varied, and we have expanded SWPBS to include many other facets of our school, such as the “Word of the Week”, recognition of Happy Grams on WLES news, and the Beat the Bell program to decrease tardies are just some of the ways that the SWPBS philosophy has expanded. 

Another area of excellence for our team is in providing staff rewards, and our commitment to ensuring that staff knows they are doing a great job.  We have pampered them with spa days, awarded them with staff recognition slips, and thanked them in as many ways as we could think of!

Our expectations are consistently taught and modeled by our staff, and areas of weakness are addressed. For instance, a recent review of data showed that insubordination was an issue for our first grade.  We made a fun video to re-teach the skill of “Following Directions first time asked”, and then recognized those students who demonstrated this skill on a new bulletin board in Library and in the monthly newsletter.

Discuss the changes you have seen on campus since PBS implementation (e.g., data, climate, morale, etc.). Thanks in part to SWPBS, our climate is very positive.  We are amazed by the number of outside people, such as county office personnel and the Big Brothers organization, that have commented on the upbeat and encouraging atmosphere here at Liberty.  Although we have always felt that this is a great place to be, with supportive administration, there is a definite change in the overall atmosphere. Both staff and student morale feel more optimistic about coming to school because of the fun events that PBS sponsors.  Students are often overheard talking about how fun the socials are and even wrote comments during a drawing social, such as  “school rocks”, “we did a great job making good choices”, and “school is fun”. Students often correct others and staff using positive wording such as “walking feet”, “stay safe”, “be sure to try your best”, and “good job showing self control”.

We have also seen an increase in parent involvement as they are on campus more to help with the socials and activities associated with student rewards. We are also becoming more comfortable and efficient with making data-based decisions as they impact individual students as well as small group.  We have recently implemented secondary levels of support, and are using the check-in/check-out system to work with students who have been identified as needing this level of support by the teachers.

What are some obstacles that your team has had to overcome?  Please explain the process for overcoming these hurdles below. We are sure we are not alone in this, but we are consistently frustrated with budget and funding issues, and finding more time to share data with staff.  We find that the academic schedule requirements put upon us by the state restrict the amount of time that we can spend on positive events, such as socials and reward ceremonies.  Yet we are able to see first hand the positive impact these have on student behavior, staff energy levels, and parent involvement.   We do not feel that our obstacles are unique to our school, but are proud of the way we have pulled together to work around these issues.  We have shortened the time for each social, and have focused on finding simpler, more cost effective themes, which have been very well received by the students.