Greater Focus on Positive Behavior at the Middle School

Staff at the have begun instituting a positive behavior program for students that will be fully rolled out in September. Special education teacher Suzanne Ziegler, who has been a major player in the program, presented information at the meeting last week.

The initiative, which is called Positive Behavioral Support in Schools (PBSIS), is being done statewide in conjunction with the New Jersey Department of Education. The goal is to encourage positive behavior and interaction among students and between students and staff.

This year, Ziegler said staff at the middle school have started giving out "high fives" to students who they see having some sort of positive interaction. Instead of performing the hand gesture, staff members give students a piece of paper to recognize the behavior.

Ziegler said high fives are not to be used as bribes, but are given out if a staff member sees a student helping a classmate, following the rules or showing good sportsmanship, just to name a few. She explained that students put their high fives in a bin in the cafeteria and two names from each grade level are drawn at random every Friday. If their name is selected, they roll two dice with reward choices on each face and choose which prize they would like to receive. Rewards include eating outside for lunch, playing Wii during lunch, a Fast Pass to the front of the lunch line and a free snack.

Each month, two students from each grade are selected at random to spin a wheel for a bigger reward, including school play tickets, an iTunes gift card, free yearbook, AMC gift card, specialty lunch table and Westwood home sporting event tickets.

One change that will be implemented in September is the size and complexity of the high fives. Ziegler said the current high fives require staff members to do a lot of writing and they are larger pieces of paper. In the fall, the high fives will be the size of business cards so they will fit in staff members' ID badge holders and will require them to just write their name and the student's name. The updated high five will also have the new middle school logo, which was created by a student. Instead of bins, students will also place their high fives into wooden boxes that look like birdhouses, which were created by the high school wood shop.

In addition to individual rewards, the PBSIS program has milestone rewards for the entire school if a certain number of high fives are given out. Teachers who hand out high fives are also be eligible for rewards, including a parking spot, Dunkin Donuts gift card, a Fast Pass to the copier, classroom supplies and duty coverage.

To help raise money for the program, middle school staff members held a car wash June 4, which Ziegler said raised $380. That money will be used for the program rewards.

To educate students and staff about the PBSIS program, Ziegler said a kick-off event is scheduled for Sept. 9, the first Friday of the school year. Students will learn about the program in the morning and the afternoon will be a celebration. The rain date is Sept. 16.

Ziegler said research has shown a program like PBSIS benefits the school. She said the community can expect a decrease in referrals and suspensions, a more positive school climate, an increase in academic achievement and an increase in socially desirable behaviors.

While Ziegler said it would take a few years for the school to reach its full potential with the program, she believes it will be successful.

"It has been a lot of hard work, and it will continue to be, but our Westwood Regional Middle School will be a better place because of it," Ziegler said.

There is a PBSIS section of the middle school website under Our School where community members can get more information about the program. Ziegler said it will be continuously updated. Click here to view the portion of the site.