At the beginning of each school year and right after the holiday break, Clearview Elementary students learn about expectations in the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program, a District 742 initiative. 

 

PBIS focuses on what students are doing right, not on what they’re doing wrong. It’s about reinforcing positive behavior, teaching adults how to teach it, and what to look for.

 

“It’s teaching behaviors instead of going straight to consequences,” said Counselor and PBIS Coach Lisa Wannebo. “Praise instead of punish.”

 

“It’s a way for educators to be proactive in the way they explain and implement expectations,” said Academic and PBIS Coach Laura Freese. “Overall it’s a more reaffirming way to teach expectations and enforce a more positive culture.”

 

There are six stations where there are expectations taught to the students; hallways, bathrooms, the lunchroom, the playground, the media center computer lab, and the bus and bus chute. 

 

Each station is taught in its environment. For example, students will be brought to the lunchroom and taught what the expectations for that area are.

 

“We explain what each expectation is and what it looks like, because sometimes our idea of what an expectation looks like is different than a student’s idea,” said Freese. “Some kids come in not understanding how to be students.”

 

The stations and the expectations for each are posted on signs throughout Clearview in the areas they represent, such as by the bathrooms and in the lunchroom, as well as in each classroom. The signs serve as visual reminders for the students on how to behave.

 

The school can pull data to see if they’re having problems in any particular station, such as recess, which shows them they need to focus on re-teaching the expectations for that area.

 

There are three tiers to PBIS, which the district illustrates with a triangle. The tiers work both behaviorally and academically.

 

The bottom of the triangle is tier one, which is teaching the basics and every student receives. Tier two is for students who need a little more help following expectations, and tier three is for students who need more intense, one-on-one instruction.

 

“If we see students struggling we may set up a positive check-in time to help them manage their behavior,” said Freese. “We try to set up proactive plans with them instead of being reactive.”

 

Although PBIS is a district-wide program, each school includes their own expectations. Clearview’s are “Be Kind, Be Responsible, Be Safe.” Along with this each classroom has its own expectations as well.

 

New to Clearview’s PBIS program this year are “Clearview Cougars Care” slips, which staff hand out to students they see following expectations. All the slips awarded each week are put into a drawing, and two names per grade are drawn and given certificates students can use at the school store.

 

Clearview’s bus drivers have a similar way of reinforcing behavior called “Bus Bucks.”

 

“What we really want to work on is celebrating how good the students here are,” said Wannebo. “We want to reward them for behaving up to expectations.”

 

There is also a PBIS program for adults in the school to recognize each other and the things they do.