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MARGARET K. LEWIS

DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION:

1. School District: Bay

2. Grade Levels: Pre-kindergarten through 12th

3. Student Enrollment: 158

4. Percent of ESOL Students: 0%

5. Free and Reduced Lunch Percent: 54.43%

6. Percent of Students With IEP's: 100%

School Website

TEAMING:

Members of the Positive Behavior Supports (PBS) team of Margaret K. Lewis School represent each department within the school. Membership is voluntary and personnel from a variety of professional disciplines are involved including paraprofessionals. Each meeting is guided by a prepared agenda; however; members are encouraged to provide input while remaining focused on the principles of PBS. Members of the PBS Team work collaboratively with both the Behavior Assistance Team, whose responsibility is to assist with the delivery of behavior support for those students with the most significant behavioral/social concerns, and the Emergency Response Team, whose responsibility is to organize and maintain a back-up system for students in crisis.

Instructional personnel submit data for instructional time lost in excess of 10 minutes, location of inappropriate behavior and the number of adults required to address the behavior. This data is reviewed at monthly meetings of the PBS Team. Ideas, suggestions and kudos are shared. The PBS Team addresses school-wide initiatives/concerns while the Behavior Assistance Team and the Emergency Response Team address individual issues.

Successful students and groups are recognized monthly at the Eagle of the Month assembly. In addition to applauding individual “Eagles” and “Eagle Keepers,” during this school year, the physical education department and the office have also begun to award students and staff for exemplary efforts. A portion of the inservice training was dedicated to reviewing behavioral principles and school-wide efforts. Faculty members were provided with a manual to be used as a guide. A parent and staff newsletters were distributed on a regular basis. These newsletters highlighted class and individual accomplishments.

The PBS Team has a broad representation including the school principal, a nurse, the technology specialist, the behavior analyst, a data clerk, paraprofessionals and both seasoned and rookie teachers. All membership is voluntary. Members respect each others’ perspectives and seem to enjoy each others’ company. The school principal attends PBS Team meeting and actively participates. Both district and school based administrators encourage professional development. The PBS Team encourages school faculty and staff to implement Successful Optimistic Ambitious Responsibility (SOAR) expectations in appropriate ways as dictated by the students’ maturity and ability within routine and novel situations.

IMPLEMENTATION:

Students strive to be the Eagle of the Month to represent their class. Schoolwide emphasis is directed toward awarding both students and staff. New initiatives (attendance, PE “Foot” Award) are accepted and appreciated. SOAR expectations have become ever-present in all aspects of the MKL way of work.

OUTCOMES:

Discuss the changes you have seen on campus since PBS implementation. Staff and students are revived with the increase in incentives. Additional aspects of the PBS initiative are always encouraged and welcomed (Eagle and family/friend social following assembly, designated bulletin board maintained by high school volunteers, age-appropriate incentives, t-shirt with SOAR design for school spirit days, SOAR posters) to increase awareness of PBS. More vigorous involvement from community business partners is emerging. Providing staff training for new teachers and paraprofessionals was implemented and included a packet of PBS information. SOAR Expectations are displayed in classrooms throughout the school and are readily expressed by faculty and staff. Classroom rules coincide with SOAR Expectations. Students strive to be recognized as SOARing Eagles!

OBSTACLES:

Time continues to be our greatest adversary. While monthly PBS meetings are well attended, members are often beleaguered with on-going responsibilities in other aspects of the school. Margaret K. Lewis School has a small faculty in comparison to other schools requiring faculty to be accountable in many phases of school enhancement. Data collection procedures are not followed through with consistently. Data analysis and interpretation needs improvement to ensure accuracy. New information concerning PBS needs to be shared on a regular basis.