September 15, 2015

PBIS: Positive Behavioral Intervention and Support

As many of you may remember, last year ISP adopted a new program known as Positive Behavior Intervention and Support, or PBIS for short.  A team was formed to learn this program and prepare the school for the three year process of implementation. After meeting several times during the 2014-15 school year, the team has made a lot of progress.

We began this school year with an all-staff training on PBIS and Active Supervision.  We also ratified a new Universal Expectations Matrix for our school community. The four primary rules will be:

Be safe.
Be respectful.
Be responsible.
Be fluent.

Each of these rules will have minor variations, depending on the physical location within the school.  Implementing these rules will be a layered process.  Each Tuesday is considered PBIS Day, where each teacher will begin the day with a brief lesson on an area of focus (i.e. playground safety).

In the coming days and weeks, you will begin to see the Universal Expectations posted in the hallways and classrooms. Teachers have also been asked provide a small introduction to PBIS to you Curriculum Night to help the parent community begin to understand more about the purpose of this program. 

We will provide more information about PBIS and its implementation as the school year progresses.