1-+Statement+of+School+Discipline+Philosophy

SCHOOL: RISING STARS PRE-K TO THIRD GRADE LOCATION: SUBURBAN SCHOOL DISTRICT BACKGROUND: Located on the city border of Easton, this Pre-K to 3rd grade school is culturally diverse with a great Hispanic population. Although the school does encompass a variety of cultures, like, Black American, Caucasian, Asian, Russian, Indian, Arabic and Native American. Most students are Lower to Middle Class economic status. Most parents work and about half of the students come from single parent families and blended families. **__ DISCIPLINE SYSTEM __**

Our discipline system would be created by a committee the previous year before school started based on needs we see in the students. Our committee members would include, but not be limited to: administration, faculty members, parents, and student representatives. The plan below outlines what this particular committee came to agreement on.



Prior to the start of the school year an assembly would be held with all school personnel about the school wide discipline system. There would also be a separate assembly for parents one evening before the start of the school year to explain the school wide discipline system. A letter would be sent home which would include the information discussed at these assemblies. This information would also be included in the handbook for school personnel and parents who were unable to attend the assembly, as well as for future reference.

The school wide discipline system must emulate a safe learning environment in order to promote a positive learning atmosphere.

On the first day of school the students would receive the information about the school wide discipline system from their classroom teacher.

Included with the school wide discipline system is a contract between the school district and the parents. Both the classroom teacher and parents sign to agree to this contract.

__ Individual Rewards: __

Positive Comments Positive Phone Calls Home Extra Time on a Preferred Activity

Rising Stars: All personnel which includes administration, teachers, specialist teachers, guidance counselors, secretaries, nurses, bus drivers, cafeteria employees, and custodians, etc. would be given cut out stars to hand out to children at their discretion when students show positive behaviors. The children would then write their name on these stars which would then be posted on a school wide bulletin board if the child desired. At the end of the week all of the children who received a rising star would get to pick a prize out of the treasure box in the office. They would choose a prize for each star they received that week and their name would be announced over the intercom. School personnel would also be able to hand these stars out to other school personnel. __ Classroom Reward: __

Prize Jar: Each classroom teacher would set up a prize jar in his/her room. Each teacher would have some discretion to decide what would work for their class. For example a puppy dog puppet could be used for children to reward the dog with a bone in the jar. When the jar was full the class would earn their prize. The class would vote on the prize at the start of filling the jar up. A vote could be done on a graph to use math skills relating to real life. Some examples of prizes would be a pajama party, a pizza party, an ice cream party, wearing hats to school for a week, or some other reasonable prize the class votes on with teacher approval. Children could earn bones in puppy's jar when another school personnel compliments the room's behavior. Another example of filling a jar could be adding apple erasers into the jar during the autumn. Teachers can be flexible in the theme they use. This will also keep children from getting bored from year to year with the same exact reward system.

__ Consequences __

We would hope to not have to get to the consequences with our positive reward plan in place, but in case we had a student who was not receptive to our plan we would have traffic light cards in place for the students in the building.

Traffic Light Cards: The students would each get a starting card with a smiley face on it, then a green card, a yellow card, and a red card. The smiley face shows the students starting off on the right track. If any school personnel needs to speak with them about a misbehavior the child would get a warning. If any school personnel needs to speak to the student again during the day for a misbehavior the student would then move to the green card as a second warning. If any school personnel needs to speak with a student a third time then the child would move their card to the yellow card. On a yellow card a student would lose 5 minutes of recess. Should any school personnel need to speak to a child about a misbehavior a fourth time the child would lose 10 minutes of recess.

1. Smiley face card to start off the day. 2. One warning: Stay on smiley face card. 3. Second reminder: Move to yellow and lose 5 minutes of recess. 4. Third reminder: Move to red and lose 10 minutes of recess.

If a child receives more than 1 red card per week or 3 yellow cards per week a note would go home to the parents about the child's misbehaviors for that week. The parents would need to sign and return to school so that the teacher could see that it was received by the parents. If a student was consistently receiving yellow or red cards we would set up a meeting with the parents and the guidance counselor. Depending upon the needs of the student, the school personnel involved with the incidences with this child would make a decision on whether to have the child meet with the guidance counselor first, meet with the parents first, or meet with both the guidance counselor and parents at the same time. *If a misbehavior was severe and fell under one of the other discipline policies the appropriate action would be taken as listed in those policies. NOTE: Teachers need to be consistent and fair when managing behaviors when implementing the discipline policy. Failure to be consistent will result in disciplinary problems in the classroom. __ WEEKLY ACADEMIC/BEHAVIOR SHEET __

In addition to the card system a weekly behavior sheet would be sent home outlining each child's progress in academics and behavior. If any specific skill in either area needed reminders this week the appropriate box(es) would be marked. By receiving this weekly report the parents would know what areas in academics or behavior their child was doing well in or needed to improve on. Also included on this sheet would be academic skills or actives for the upcoming week. A sample is available.

**__ CONFLICT RESOLUTION __**

Throughout the school year conflicts will arise between students. At the Pre-K, kindergarten, and the first grade levels teachers will do a lot of modeling of appropriate ways to resolve conflicts. Below are a few ways in which this modeling would occur.

1. As the conflict occurs between two children the teacher would be a facilitator in guiding the children how they could solve the problem.

2. There is an excellent reading series by Jon Berry which includes many topics of discussion for children. The teacher would read these books and class and call a couple of children to the front of the room to model what these behaviors should look like.

3. The teacher would also create puppets of the children by taking their photo and placing their head on a popsicle stick. The children would then be guided to use their puppet with one another to resolve conflicts. This would be done after steps one and two have been established so children understand the types of words they should be using to resolve conflicts. The teacher may still need to guide children in the beginning of this activity, but in a few weeks they should have the hang of it.

Once children reach second grade they should have a better grasp of how to resolve conflicts with other children after receiving modeling the previous few years. A peer medication would be set up in the classroom where children can go to when they feel they have a need to discuss a conflict with another child or children. If the teacher notices after about 3-5 minutes that the situation is not close to being resolved he/she would contact the guidance counselor for the students to meet with.

**__ CHOICES __** Students should be given choices throughout the day to help keep misbehaviors at a minimum. For example, some children perform better when standing instead of sitting. Other children may need something to squeeze in their hands to help them focus. Even little things like asking the child if they'd prefer to use a pen or a pencil will help keep the students motivated. By giving children choices throughout the day it can help you have a more positive learning environment.