What do we do?
Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS)
PBIS is about making sure every child is engaged in learning at high levels in a safe and healthy environment. PBIS is about teaching students how to behave, so they can navigate life with social and emotional awareness. PBIS is also about using data to improve schools, and ensure every child develops the skills they need to lead a meaningful life.
In the past, schoolwide discipline has focused mainly on reacting to specific student misbehavior by implementing punishment-based strategies including reprimands, loss of privileges, office referrals, suspensions, and expulsions. Research has shown that the implementation of punishment, especially when it is used inconsistently and in the absence of other positive strategies, is ineffective. Introducing, modeling, and reinforcing positive social behavior is an important step of a student's educational experience. Teaching behavioral expectations and rewarding students for following them is a much more positive approach than waiting for misbehavior to occur before responding. The purpose of schoolwide PBIS is to establish a climate in which appropriate behavior is the norm. (PBIS.org)
Our Vision
We create a community where every child develops in a positive behavior supported environment.
We believe that all families should have access to high-quality behavioral and social-emotional learning tools. Creating systems that educate all adults on how to use these tools will result in long-term social-emotional literacy for all students, and in time, a stronger healthier county.
Our Mission
From within a multi-tiered system of supports, we increase the capacity of Berrien County’s schools to use team-based planning and continuous improvement to implement positive behavioral interventions and supports. (Credit to Florida PBIS)
Our main priority is to serve our county schools, and to support the development of sustainable systems that foster continuous improvement for all students. As schools become proficient in the implementation of these systems, we aim to support them in coordinating and integrating their systems with those of their communities.
Our Identity
Why did we choose a propeller to represent our work?
PBIS is defined as an implementation framework for maximizing the selection and use of evidence-based prevention and intervention practices along a multi-tiered continuum that supports the academic, social, emotional, and behavioral competence of all students.
In essence, when implemented with fidelity, PBIS is the base foundation that propels initiatives, curricula, and overall learning to excellence – therefore, PBIS is the propeller.