Stevens Forest Elementary School
School-wide Behavior System
Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)

2006 Exemplar School

Be Respectful    Be Responsible    Be Ready

The purpose of our PBIS program is to promote compliance with school rules and foster
academic achievement for all students by providing consistent routines and practices and
rewarding students in a positive school environment.

School Rules:
The school rules are Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Ready

Students have been taught and are expected to follow these rules in all locations of
the school building. The rules are posted in all areas of the building.

Bobcat Tickets and Paw Prints:
Students who are following the school rules in the various locations
of the school will earn Bobcat Tickets.

Tickets are given by staff to students to acknowledge individual positive behavior.

 Once received, the tickets go into a classroom box for a
daily drawing for classroom-based incentives.

Tickets from each grade level are saved for the week and a drawing is held each Monday morning. Three students in each grade level will receive prizes from the office treasure box.
A picture is taken of the group of children and is displayed in the hallway.

This is an example of a Bobcat Ticket:

Students earn a “Paw Print” stamp on their daily calendar (Grades K, 1, and 2) or in their Student Planner (Grades 3, 4, and 5).  If a student does not receive a Paw Print, check for a brief note from the teacher or look for a Self Assessment Form (see below).

Pride Cart:
Students may save their Bobcat Tickets and trade them in for prizes at the SFES Pride Cart. 
Students may trade tickets for the following items:

• 20 Tickets = Bobcat Pride Pencil
• 40 Tickets = Choice of book from the Pride Cart
• 50 Tickets = Personalized Bookmark with photograph
  of the child or the child and a friend.
• 75 Tickets = SFES Visor
• 150 Tickets = Bobcat Pride T-Shirt
  

The Pride Cart is taken to each team area by either a parent or staff member
from 8:45-9:05 on the following schedule:

Monday- Grade 5
Tuesday- Grade 4
Wednesday – Grade 3
Thursday- Grades 2 and 1
Friday – Kindergarten

School-wide Celebrations:
Schedule permitting, Stevens Forest Elementary hosts a PBIS school-wide celebration
called a Bobcat Bonanza Celebration approximately every six weeks.  Activities such as
school dances, BINGO, shared reading celebrations and Bobcat Olympics are just a
few of the fun events enjoyed by our students.

       In order to participate in a school-wide celebration students may earn no more than one Office Referral or three minor referrals (Self-Assessment Forms) during the time between Bobcat Bonanza Celebrations.  The students who do not participate in the celebration are supervised by staff that assist the children with reflecting on what they can do to assure participation in the next celebration.

Consequences for Inappropriate Behavior
Students have been taught the school rules for classroom and non-classroom settings.
If a child does not follow one of the three school rules, the following procedure is followed:

General Verbal Warning with reminder about appropriate behavior.

Individual Verbal Warning with reminder about appropriate behavior.

Student completes a Self-Assessment Form to evaluate the reason for their behavior
and to consider alternate behaviors. A child cannot earn his or her daily paw print if
they have received a Self-Assessment Form. The Self-Assessment form is sent home
for parent review. Please help your child to understand the motivation behind
their behavior so that it does not repeat itself and please sign the paper.

If the behavior does not improve, either a teacher or a school administrator will notify a parent.

Certain actions such as fighting, use of inappropriate language, possession of
contraband or weapons, harassment, bullying and threats warrant immediate administrative
involvement and are treated as an office referral. The school administrators will
investigate these matters and consequences will be given as appropriate. In the case
of an office referral a parent will be contacted either via letter or phone call.  Please
sign the referral that your child brings home and return it to school the next day.

Suspension is considered if a student’s behavior is a serious violation of the
HCPSS Code of Conduct and the school rules.

How are we doing?
- SFES tracks all behavioral infractions as data to guide decision making
for this program.  Data for office referrals, minor infractions
(Self-Assessment forms) and suspensions has decreased dramatically. 
- SFES earned PBIS Exemplar status for the 2005-2006 school year due to the increase in student compliance with the school rules and the response of the PBIS Leadership Team to the monthly data.
- Additional programs are now in place to support PBIS.  The Bobcat Club is a goal-setting program for selected 4th and 5th graders. A staff-student mentor program is in place to support students.
- Pep-Rallies are held quarterly to celebrate academic and behavioral achievements.
Each classroom holds Community Meetings to give students a chance to share with one another.
- The SFES Anti-bullying program is implemented through the PBIS program. 
Students have been taught empathy skills and skills to support self-esteem.
The next step is for the students to learn strategies to stop bullying.

The PBIS program at SFES is within the guidelines of the Howard County Public School System Code of Conduct.  To view the HCPSS Code of Conduct, please click on www.hcpss.org/files/codeofconduct_20062007.pdf

Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports are based on the research of Dr. George Sugai formerly of the University of Oregon, currently based at the University of Connecticut.  The Maryland State Department of Education and Sheppard Pratt Health Systems support PBIS locally.  To learn more about PBIS in Maryland click onwww.pbismaryland.org