Perry Elementary is in the midst of a positive behavior boom, and administrators attribute it largely to their Positive Behavior Intervention System (PBIS) program.

Assistant Principal Ryan Marzen reported that after the first quarter, 97% of students have had no office referrals with no student having more than one, marking a large decline from last year’s numbers. “We have a 24% decrease in our office referrals from last year to this year, which is phenomenal. You know, with our PBIS that we do at our school, that positive reinforcement when we see good behavior in our school is really working. And so the amount of referrals is down, which is great, because then students have more instruction in the classroom. It’s been great to see the kids being fantastic citizens in our school, and our teachers have been doing a great job implementing that PBIS this year.”

One way the school administers PBIS is through an incentive program that teachers, paraeducators and even custodians can be involved with. Principal Ned Menke explains, “So what happens is, when you see kids doing something well in our school, we have little “Bluejay Feathers” we call them. And so then later on, they get to use these Bluejay Feathers for purchasing little items, usually it’s school supply items from a cart. We also do a Bluejay Leader monthly program, where we have teachers select a couple kids from each section that have displayed respectful, responsible, and safe behaviors in our school.”

The principals are hopeful the positive behavior trend continues through the rest of the year. To hear more from Menke and Marzen, listen to today’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.