The longevity of some of our members who have been here since the start of PBS and the individuals who are brand new this year are able to work together to bring a fresh new approach to the school. The team looks forward to meeting once a month and has several contacts with one another in between these monthly meetings. The members are reasonably flexible and willing to take on several different roles as needed in our school environment.

The team uses SWIS data to review all variables: time of day, student, location, behavior and teacher to determine what action needs to take place in order to improve behavior. The children who have the top ten highest numbers of referrals for that month are “Red Flagged.” A Red Flag meeting is scheduled with the principal, behavior specialist, guidance counselor, social worker, and teacher. At this meeting we come up with action plans on how to accommodate this student to make them more successful within the classroom setting.

Data is broken apart between majors and minors. A high amount of minors for our school is a good thing. A minor at our school is referred to as a SAR (student assistance request). A counselor or behavior specialist will be called and go into the room to support the child while they are in the anxious state and try to prevent the child from going to acting out person state. We prefer the teacher intervene early by using a SAR instead of allowing the student to get to the acting out point and have to be removed from the environment. We compare data from year to year and also see which teachers have the highest referrals. If a teacher’s referrals appear much higher than other staff, the team will meet with that teacher to come up with solutions/accommodations to issues within the classroom.

After each STARS meeting there is a faculty meeting the next day. Each teacher receives a copy of the SWIS data and it is broken down and explained to them. The staff also receives updates from the STARS meeting and notes from the meeting. The staff is encouraged to provide feedback at our Behavior Committee meetings held monthly.

Each member has something different to offer at each meeting. We have a teacher, paraprofessional, guidance counselor, Exclusionary Time Out staff member, music/art teacher, behavior specialist, administrator and three students on our STARS team. The team is strong and consistent with the program. Staff members are often seeking out all members of the team for various interventions to be used in their classroom.

There is a broad continuum of rewards provided for our students. We give out starbucks, superbucks and principal bucks, each holding a greater value than the next. The students earn these starbucks for good behavior, being on task or even just sitting quietly. Any staff member can provide the starbucks and superbucks, however the Principal only can provide the Principal Buck! Students are able to cash in their starbucks two times a month at the Starbucks store for tangible items (toys, clothes etc which are donated). Students receive earned time during the day. Each student has an individual point sheet with individual goals. The student earns points throughout the day and if the student has an 80 or above at the end of the week they may participate in the Earned Friday event. Another strong point for our program is incorporating expectations into lesson plans. At the beginning of the year, each teacher is given a file box with different lesson plans for each month’s character.