Our original PBS team has had some changes in its original make up but we did work well together in the planning and follow through. It was important to have an intermediate teacher as well as a primary teacher involved and especially helpful to have an assistant who covers the cafeteria and recess times of the day. The assistant principal held the key leadership role and was able to assist with staff updates, parent training, and student reminders and enforcement.

This being our first year of implementation, the data gathered on location occurrences and time of day was used to make changes in supervision coverage at recess time as the year proceeded. It is hoped that once we start into our second year, we will have more comprehensive data to help make decisions on other “hot” discipline issues. It was quite apparent that a very small percentage of our student population held the majority of major infractions. This will definitely assist in classroom placement for next year.

This year we used our morning news show to share information about our successes with the PBS program and to also continually reinforce our expectations. Additionally, monthly staff meetings were used to discuss any concerns that would arise with the program as well as sharing the efficacy building going on in the classrooms as the teachers caught the students being positive role leaders.

Our team is made up of workers! Each of us has a specific talent or strength that is brought to the table and we do not hesitate to step up to the plate and do whatever is needed to make sure the program is successful.

In this first year, we felt we did a really great job with establishing the expectations and getting the information out to the staff, students, and parents. We originated many acronyms that dealt with school expectations on and off campus, including our parents who got “TRIP” trained for volunteering on field trips. We had large posters made for the campus and classrooms. In addition, we started the school year with homemade commercials and then did another set with different students after the first of the year and now our technology teacher worked the subject into a fifth grade assignment, so we will have a variety of shorter vignettes to use. Additionally we were successful with our student and staff rewards. Classes earned “fish” for positive behaviors and celebrated in their classrooms. This also carried over to the cafeteria, where fish are awarded daily and after 10, the class gets 10 minutes of extra recess and the teachers get 10 extra minutes of recess…a win-win situation.