PBIS @ VVMS
I have worked in high-poverty, diverse schools my entire career. While in High School, I enjoyed tutoring elementary students in south Minneapolis at Hoops and Homework which grew into a job with Educational Talent Search during college at Humboldt Junior/Senior High School. I was fortunate to student teach at Como Park High School in Saint Paul and earn my first teaching position at Patrick Henry High School in Minneapolis. I have come to realize that climate and culture are the foundation for student learning success. I haven’t always worked in climates that were school-wide unified, calm and intentional.
At Valley View Middle School, we are proud of our school climate. We are very intentional about teaching students what we expect of them through a strong school-wide Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) system. PBIS has allowed our staff to make decisions on and integrate evidence-based academic and behavioral practices systematically to benefit all students. In order to continually do this, we look at our data to set measurable goals with the plan – do – act mentality in mind.
There are four elements to School-wide PBIS. We have a continuum of behavioral and academic interventions and supports. We use data to plan action steps to be preventative and proactive with students. This image is take from the PBIS website: www.pbis.org
I have never worked in a school quite like Valley View Middle with regard to climate and culture. Students know our VIRTUEs well and we are proud of how they shape how we do business at VVMS. Our VIRTUEs are: Values, Integrity, Respect/Responsibility, Teamwork, Understanding and Excellence. If you came to our school you would see these all over the classrooms, hallways and our lunchroom.
This morning, like every Friday morning, we have a student delivered news show and on the news we recognize students who have been noticed by staff demonstrating our Valley View VIRTUEs. Our VIRTUE vouchers are 2ply so that the student keeps one copy and the staff member puts the other copy into a grade-level drawing for the Wheel of VIRTUEs. It is a fun opportunity to have students spin the wheel on the news. They win all sorts of prizes: Hot Cheetos, Takis, Tickets to High School sporting events, Monster Cookies at lunch, Big Candy, Spirit Wear, etc.
Once a month on the morning news we include a drawing for Super Subs. Last year we started this incentive program for substitutes that has been very successful. Substitute Teachers are given the opportunity to recognize students who go above and beyond in their classes. Their names are then entered into a drawing for a Jimmy John’s sub once a month.
At every staff meeting we also recognize the wonderful VIRTUE work that our colleagues have done in the past month with Staff VIRTUE vouchers and a staff drawing. Some of the prizes have been Starbucks coffee, Droolin’ Moose Chocolate, Movie Tickets, Timberwolves tickets, Hand-made knitted scarfs, Twins gear, Golf packages, etc. A couple times a year, we facilitate students recognizing their teachers with VIRTUE vouchers as well.
Based on our behavior data we are aware that there are certain months where we struggle with more behavior referrals than others. This allows us to plan extra incentives during those high referral times. Currently we are in a “Takin’ Care of Business” season in which students with no referrals and no outstanding detentions will receive an ice cream treat on March 27th. We planned a Falcon Fest in December with a Survivor Theme which was very successful and we are currently planning another for the spring.
The PBIS team of teachers and staff at VVMS work very hard at planning for and responding to our data so that we can maximize student academic achievement and success for all students. I am grateful for our PBIS team as well as our teachers and staff who actively supervise the hallways. I am also grateful for the many local businesses that have donated prizes for our incentive programs as well as our PTO who have generously donated to our program. One of the many reasons we have achieved academic success at VVMS is due to the strong foundation of climate and culture that every person at VVMS values and supports, students and adults alike.
PBIS resources: