Schoolwide Discipline
Helping students behave in a responsible and ethical manner is the responsibility of all staff at the school. To that end all staff members are expected to do the following:
There is a comprehensive plan in place that the administration will use to provide consequences to students at each school. By sending a student discipline referral to the office, you are relinquishing ownership of the incident. The administrator will deal with the student appropriately and will assign whatever consequences he or she deems fit.
Maintain the dignity of every child. Do not belittle them in front of their peers or challenge them to behave negatively.
If you lose your temper with a student, it will undermine your authority every single time. Avoid threats, yelling, belittling and sarcasm.
- We must conduct ourselves in a manner that ensures that students are shown proper role modeling. This includes our dress, attitude and interactions with colleagues and students.
- Remember that all behavior is to fulfill a certain need. Try to discover what is causing a student to behave unsuccessfully and, if possible, resolve it.
- Every teacher is required to establish and post classroom rules and procedures. They should be clearly defined and sent to parents by the close of the first week of school. This includes “enrichment” teachers, including Physical Education, Art, Music, Media and Guidance.
- Be very clear about what your expectations are and model the behaviors you want your students to demonstrate on a daily basis.
- Contact parents when you experience situations with their children that disrupt the learning process. Schedule parent conferences and document the meetings.
- Be patient and understanding. Above all, handle inappropriate behavior quickly, quietly and professionally.
There is a comprehensive plan in place that the administration will use to provide consequences to students at each school. By sending a student discipline referral to the office, you are relinquishing ownership of the incident. The administrator will deal with the student appropriately and will assign whatever consequences he or she deems fit.
Maintain the dignity of every child. Do not belittle them in front of their peers or challenge them to behave negatively.
If you lose your temper with a student, it will undermine your authority every single time. Avoid threats, yelling, belittling and sarcasm.
AGGRESSIVE AND DANGEROUS SITUATIONS
Students who are behaving aggressively or dangerously need to be escorted to the office by an administrator or responsible adult. Use your phone to contact the office. Do NOT send a child to the office without escort. Complete a referral form immediately stating what happened. Be specific about what triggered the outburst and what events led up to it. While you are not legally responsible to intervene directly with students who are being aggressive, you are required to do your best to maintain student safety. If you do not feel comfortable intervening directly with a combative student, you are required to do the following:
Things to remember:
Students who are behaving aggressively or dangerously need to be escorted to the office by an administrator or responsible adult. Use your phone to contact the office. Do NOT send a child to the office without escort. Complete a referral form immediately stating what happened. Be specific about what triggered the outburst and what events led up to it. While you are not legally responsible to intervene directly with students who are being aggressive, you are required to do your best to maintain student safety. If you do not feel comfortable intervening directly with a combative student, you are required to do the following:
- Summon assistance from the office or surrounding classrooms immediately.
- Verbally direct student behavior, discourage fighting and encourage more positive behaviors.
- Move other students away from combative students.
- Do your best to protect a student who is the victim of an unprovoked assault.
- Observe situation closely for documentation at a later time.
Things to remember:
- Do not engage child in verbal argument.
- Do not provoke students or dare them to behave negatively.
- Calmly work to de-escalate the child until support arrives.
Tier 1:
These are issues that can ordinarily be dealt with inside the classroom. These routine behaviors should be addressed by using your classroom management plan. We have listed many of the behaviors below that fall under this category; however, this is not an exhaustive list. If the behavior does not cause a disruption to the educational process, you must ask yourself whether or not it is worth the loss of direct instruction to the child. We ask that you call home to a parent for the following offenses as needed to ensure responsible behavior. These routine behaviors will move to the second tier if they are chronic and/or repetitive and do not stop when addressed. Self- corrected non-compliance after one reminder Inappropriate laughter or immature behavior Verbal threat to peer Not participating in class Horseplay or irritating peers or teachers (that does not cause injury or danger to self or others) Refusal to complete work Throwing paper or other objects Incomplete homework Copying peer assignments Disrespectful body language (rolling eyes, smacking teeth, etc…) Disrespectful behavior towards peers Excessive talking and calling out Habitually unprepared for class Inappropriate dress Profanity/cursing (overheard in conversation, not directed toward an adult) Lying Running in hall or class Sleeping in class |
Tier 2:
These are issues that are serious enough to warrant intervention by an administrator. However, our goal is to limit the amount of time that a student is removed from the educational environment. To accomplish this, we are asking that any behavior in this tier that does not endanger the health and safety of the students or seriously impact the educational environment be written up on a discipline form. Turn this form in at the office at your earliest opportunity and the administrator will deal with this offense within 24 hours. This tier does not apply to students who are completely disruptive or causing a danger to the classroom environment. These student’s behavior needs to be addressed immediately. Continuous non-compliance that disrupts the learning environment for an extended time Disrespectful behavior to teacher Leaving class without permission (call office to notify for safety) Verbal threats with escalated emotion towards peers Prolonged physical contact (kissing, hugging and other inappropriate interpersonal behavior) Forging signature on notes or document Repeated disrespectful behavior Profanity/cursing that is directed at peers Damaging books or school property (this includes graffiti and defacing school property) Chronic Tardiness to class (see handbook for more information) Minor incidents of physical aggression – pushing or slapping, not designed to cause harm Use of tobacco products Skipping Class |
Tier 3:
These are issues that represent a danger to the school, staff members and other students. This also includes behavior that seriously disrupts the educational environment of other students. These students should be seen immediately. Disrespect and non-compliance that is a major and prolonged disruption of the classroom learning environment. This includes using profanity or obscene gestures to a teacher or calling teachers inappropriate names. Violent or dangerous flight from class where a child is not in control of him or herself Verbal or physical threat towards teacher Physical aggression or other out of control behavior where safety is an issue (throwing chairs, shoving desks) Possession of weapon or other dangerous incident Possession of alcohol, drugs or drug related paraphernalia Fighting Physical/aggression / Assault – hitting or going after someone with the intent to cause harm Sexual Harassment, including inappropriate touching Bullying Unjustified activation of the fire alarm Stealing from teacher or other student(s) |