PBIS

HOWL with Pride

Carver Elementary School

PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports) is a multi-tiered framework for establishing systems, interventions and best practices around social-emotional and behavioral needs that enhances schools’ capacity to maximize outcomes for all students. This framework establishes common language and explicit expectations to help promote a positive school culture and is known as HOWL with Pride.

Carver Elementary PBIS guiding beliefs and Essential Concepts for Understanding Behavior:

  • Misbehavior is a symptom of an underlying cause – a lack of a skill
  • Behavior is communication
  • Behavior has a function – a reason why
  • Behavior occurs in patterns
  • The only behavior staff can control is their own
  • Behavior can be changed
Behavior Purpose Statement: Carver Elementary empowers learners to succeed by embedding behavioral expectations through instruction and practice. School-wide HOWL expectations focus on having a positive attitude, owning your actions, working collaboratively, and learning respectfully. Carver Elementary is a PBIS school. It will use a school-wide system to clearly state the expectations, teach and practice the expectations, and follow a code of conduct. PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. HOWL Pride is a system that acknowledges students making positive behavior choices.
 
HOWL Pride Expectations: Have a positive attitude | Own your actions | Work collaboratively | Learn respectfully
 
Individual Acknowledgments: HOWL tickets are awarded to students who are demonstrating one or more of the Carver expectations. Students will turn their HOWL ticket into their homeroom teacher for a daily drawing and award.
 
Classroom Acknowledgments: Each homeroom class has the opportunity to receive a HOWLing Class Award from any staff member. This recognition is given when the entire class is showing HOWL Pride. The HOWLing Class Award is then hung up in the homeroom.
 
Family Acknowledgments: Each week the family has a Family Reunion. The classes come together as a grade level to celebrate birthdays, successes in and out of school, and redraw names from the HOWL tickets for another chance of recognition and award.
 
Expectations in Practice:

1.   Teachers directly teach HOWL Pride expectations to students, in the area if possible. Students discuss the expectations and demonstrate the correct behaviors in the classroom and school-wide common areas.

2.   All learning spaces have a CALM Coyote area. This is a dedicated space for students to process their feelings and work through regulating themselves with breathing techniques, stances, or other activities provided by the teachers.

3.   Morning Announcements have a weekly focus of the HOWL Pride expectations. The reminder will review the expectations for a common area, as well as, give a focus for teachers to acknowledge students following HOWL Pride.

Behaviors and Responding to Levels of Behaviors: Following the District Behavior Handbook, behaviors are categorized into different areas and levels. Behaviors fall into the following categories: bullying & harassment, safety, physical aggression, weapons, respect, responsibility, property, and school transportation. The levels move from 1 to 5 on a continuum, depending on the action of the student.

Level 1 and Level 2 behaviors are minors. The expectation is that staff will handle these within the class by restating and reteaching with the student to help build capacity and restore the learning community. 

Level 3, 4, and 5 behaviors are majors. These are usually addressed outside of the classroom due to the more serious effect and impact.  Reteaching expectations with an emphasis on repair and restoring relationships and practicing behaviors that follow HOWL Pride. 

Communication Home: Communication with caregivers is expected for each level. The method of communication may vary depending on teacher and/or caregiver preference. A phone call, email, Paws & Learn ticket are viable forms of communications a caregiver may expect to receive. 

The purpose of the communication is to notify caregivers about the learning experience their child had regarding the HOWL Pride expectations.  This opportunity is for the students to be retaught, practice, and plan for the “next” time in order to follow and show HOWL Pride. The communication will also discuss any actions to restore the learning community and repair to the relationships involved, as needed.