School Spotlight: Earle Brown Elementary sees success with new program
Earle Brown Elementary School in Brooklyn Center has a new program they are using to make their school more inclusive and positive. This new program is teaching kids not only how to be better students, but better human beings.
When you walk through the hallways of the school you won’t see much student art. Instead, you’ll see tickets earned by students hanging on bulletin boards.
“When our students are being respectful, empathetic or accountable they receive a ticket,” says Tim Leach a special education teacher at Earle Brown. “Students can receive the tickets from any member of staff in the building.”
PBIS Promotes Positivity
Those tickets are a part of Earle Brown Elementary’ s newly adopted Positive Behaviorial Interventions and Support or PBIS. The program teaches kids about behavior, just as they would teach them about other subjects like reading or math.
“All of those tickets you see hanging on the wall they aren’t just slips of paper hanging there” added Leach. “They are over 6,000 positive interactions that have happened between staff and students in this building. It’s changing the culture and the atmosphere in building. This school has become a very supportive encouraging and empowering place for students to learn.”
This new program has created an immense change in student behavior.
“I think one of the biggest changes I have seen is there are expectations of what students can be doing,” says Jeff Wilson the Assistant Principal at the school. “In the past they would always be towing that line or they would cross that line. Now they know that this is the expectation this is how we run and operate. This is what it’s like to be real and we follow through with those expectation of kids.”
PBIS is in on third of Minnesota Schools
PBIS is already in about one third of Minnesota schools. The program encourages teachers to focus on the positive things students do rather than the negative.
“We are bring more intentionality from our teachers,” added Leach. “We started by enhancing what our teachers have already been doing. Students are receiving positive recognition, and teachers are more intentional about it.”
Another intention is to make children more acceptable of other cultures. A practice teachers would like children to continue once they step into the real world. Teachers hope that students will learn to become good stewards of the world. In turn influencing their community positively.
