Positive Behavior Support

 

PBIS, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports at Hillcrest Elementary  is an evidence-based, tiered framework for supporting students’ behavioral, academic, social, emotional, and mental health. 

 

PBIS improves social emotional competence, academic success, and school climate. It also improves teacher health and wellbeing. It is a way to create positive, predictable, equitable and safe learning environments where everyone thrives.

 

At Hillcrest, we…

• Start with tier one expectations building-wide for “The Hillcrest way” (safety, responsibility and respect)
• Recognize students monthly in assemblies that highlight a trait we believe exemplifies a Hillcrest Hornet
• Implement the Panorama Student Perception Survey twice a year to get student input
• Use a continuum of evidence-based practices to support student’s behavioral, academic, social-emotional, and mental health. 
• Rely on a diverse team of staff members that include Primary and Intermediate Grade Level Teachers, Social Emotional Learning Specialists, Academic Interventionist, PE Teacher, Speech Language Pathologist, School Social Worker, and Instructional Paraprofessional and the Principal to guide implementation of PBIS
• Focus on self regulation, and a strong sense of both academic and social belonging.

 

PBIS is an ongoing commitment to supporting students, educators, and families through systems change. By implementing PBIS well, students' experience improves. Our goal at Hillcrest is to use PBIS as a supportive program to recognize positive behavior and reduce exclusionary discipline. 

As part of our commitment, we have implemented Conscious Discipline. Conscious Discipline is a comprehensive social-emotional learning program that teaches adults to manage their own emotions first, enabling them to effectively teach children self-regulation. It is a trauma-informed, brain-based approach that replaces traditional reward-and-punishment models with a relationship-based system focused on developing skills like emotional intelligence and conflict resolution through an "adult-first" strategy. 

As part of this implementation, we have systemized having a self regulation station in each learning space. This station, known as The Safe Place, is designed to allow children to recognize their needs to self-regulate and provide an easily accessible location to do so. Schoolwide, students are taught how to use this space early in the school year. The five steps of self regulation are:

• I Am: Move to the Safe Place
• I Calm: Use breathing to regulate your nervous system
• I Feel: Identify and name the feeling you are feeling 
• I Choose: Choose a calming activity that will help you shift your cognitive focus
• I Solve: Work with an adult to solve any problem that was caused or to make a plan to move forward safely, respectfully and responsibly

Additionally, we implement a morning meeting in each classroom every day that includes four components that help set predictability and consistency across the building for students. The four components are:

• Unite: this activity gets everyone in the classroom doing something together 
• Connect: this activity provides meaning opportunities to connect with their teacher and a few classmates each morning
• Disengage stress: this activity is usually intentional breathing to help students and staff maintain a regulated nervous system so they can do their best work at school. 
• Commit: Each day we ask students to make a commitment for how they can show up ready to learn at school. Commitments vary based on needs of each classroom. 

We strive to provide a supportive environment by creating a strong community where students know they belong both socially and academically.