1. West Potomac High School
PBS and Character Education
When I came to West Potomac in July of 2003, it was a school in crisis. I was the fifth principal in five years. Many of the excellent teachers had fled. There was no secretary, no finance officer, no security specialist, one assistant principal working who was planning to leave in a month, one on vacation, and one who refused to talk to me because she was angry that she had been passed over. We were listed in the Washington Post as having the second highest number of fights of any high school in northern Virginia and had a high drop out rate. We had students from at least four violent gangs in our school, a number of teenage pregnancies, as well as rampant alcohol, tobacco, and drug problems. The school was separated into factions – a white school of honors students and a minority school of students that did not participate in challenging classes. In addition the academic scores were dropping and the school did not make AYP.
Coming from Woodley Hills, I was stunned at the angry and negative climate I encountered. Teachers would scream at each other over a parking space or some change in a schedule. Several said they were frightened of the students and didn’t like to walk the halls. They had fallen into self protective habits of working behind locked doors. I quickly learned that most of the teachers taught their subjects, but didn’t teach students. Instruction was primarily lecture and work sheets and the students were often rude, badly behaved, improperly dressed, and disenchanted with learning.

2. Presented by:
Aaron Engley, Assistant Principal
Carrie Jones, School Social Worker and PBS Coach
Garrett Hubbard, PBS Team Co-Leader

3. West Potomac High School

4. Where Are We?
Northern Virginia, just south of Alexandria in Fairfax County.
Located between Route 1 and the Potomac River.
South of the beltway that circles Washington, D.C.
Our neighboring school is T.C.Williams, made famous by the movie Remember the Titans.
About 3,000 people walk into West Potomac High School every day.
We have about 2,000 students who come from our neighborhoods or who are placed at West Potomac for the autism or Mod programs.
Another 700 come from surrounding high schools for classes at our Academy and about 80 others are special education students who come for transition services to the Pulley Center.
We have about 250 staff members.

5. Who Are We?
Approximately 3,000 students and 250 staff members come to West Potomac daily.
We have two magnet programs in our school - the Academy (600 students) and Pulley (90 students).
More than 300 courses are offered, including 23 AP courses.
Our graduation rate is 90%, and 92% of those students pursue postsecondary education.
About 3,000 people walk into West Potomac High School every day.
We have about 2,000 students who come from our neighborhoods or who are placed at West Potomac for the autism or Mod programs.
Another 700 come from surrounding high schools for classes at our Academy and about 80 others are special education students who come for transition services to the Pulley Center.
We have about 250 staff members.

6. We are Diverse in every way.
Culture
Religion
Language
Ability
Special Needs
Socio-economic status
Urban/suburban
The community of people who come to West Potomac every day are among the most diverse in every way that you can find. We have students of many races from every continent and almost every culture and religion in the world.
Some students live in homeless shelters and others live in multi-million dollar homes on the Potomac River. A number of our families live in Section 8 housing on Route 1.
We have students with measured IQs ranging from 50 to more than 165.
We have many special children who come with a variety of needs. They are autistic, emotionally disabled, mildly or moderately retarded, ADD, ADHD, learning disabled, or multiply disabled in wheel chairs.
We’re never sure which way to label ourselves. We are a suburban school in this neighborhood, but a very urban school on Route 1 with all of its problems of gangs and violence.

7. 2,057 students attend West Potomac.
56% of students come from minority backgrounds.
35% qualify for the free/reduced meals program.
Students represent more than 66 different countries and speak more than 40 languages.
8% of students are full-time participants in the program for English Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

8. Why PBS and Character Education?
Disrespectful school climate
Discipline problems
2003: Office Referrals
541 Suspensions/Expulsions
Apathy/Tardiness/Truancy
Low test scores
Staff/administration turnover
Lack of community involvement

9. What did we want our School to be like?
Responsible, respectful, caring community
High academic achievement
Appreciative of differences
Few discipline problems
Cohesive, supportive learning community
Community involvement
Attractive facilities
First week of school – it was Friday after school before we had a serious discipline problem.
Black Cultural Alliance
Muslim Youth Club
Latino Leadership Club
Lots of hugs
Lots of discussion about being good citizens, the ethics of our actions, service learning

10. PBS At West Potomac
: Achieved Buy-In and Partial Implementation
: Full Implementation
August 2006: Staff Presentation to maintain buy-in
2006-Present: Full Implementation

11. BUY-IN
The following slides are some of the information that was provided to staff in order to achieve buy-in.
Administrative Support was critical during this process.

12. Gallop Poll: Positive Work Environments
Create working environments where employees…
(Buckingham & Coffman 2002, Gallup)
1. Know what is expected
2. Have materials and equipment to do job correctly
3. Receive recognition each week for good work
4. Have supervisor who cares & pays attention
5. Receives encouragement to contribute and improve
6. Can identify person at work who is “best friend”
7. Feel mission of organization makes them feel like their jobs are
important
8. See people around them committed to doing a good job
9. Feel like they are learning new things (getting better)
10. Have the opportunity to do their job well.
Tried to relate PBS to what positive work environments should be…a survey of employees
These are the characteristics that adults have told us make a positive working environment. If adults think this then why wouldn’t this also be true for students and their work environment, which is school?

13. Improve academic achievement
The goal of PBS is to. . .
Reduce challenging student behavior through a proactive, positive, and consistent manner across all school settings
and
Improve academic achievement
and social competence
**Barbara

14. Systems for Students with High-Risk Behavior CONTINUUM OF SCHOOL-WIDE
Tertiary Prevention:
Specialized
Individualized
Systems for Students with High-Risk Behavior
CONTINUUM OF
SCHOOL-WIDE
INSTRUCTIONAL &
POSITIVE BEHAVIOR
SUPPORT
~5%
Secondary Prevention:
Specialized Group
Systems for Students with At-Risk Behavior
~15%
Primary Prevention:
School-/Classroom-
Wide Systems for
All Students,
Staff, & Settings
SAY: One of the most important organizing components of PBS is the establishment of a continuum of behavior support that considers all students and emphasizes prevention. This logic of this 3-tiered approach is derived from the public health approach to disease prevention.
All students and staff should be exposed formally and in an on-going manner to primary prevention interventions. Primary prevention is provided to all students and focuses on giving students the necessary pro-social skills that prevents the establishment and occurrence of problem behavior. If done systemically and comprehensively, a majority of students are likely to be affected.
Some students will be unresponsive or unsupported by primary prevention, and more specialized interventions will be required. One form of assistance is called secondary prevention, and is characterized by instruction that is more specific and more engaging. These interventions can be standardized to be applied similarly and efficiently across a small number of students. The goal of secondary prevention is to reduce/prevent the likelihood of problem behavior occurrences, and to enable these students to be supported by the school-wide PBS effort.
If primary prevention is in place, a small proportion of students will require highly individualized and intensive interventions. The goal or tertiary level interventions is to reduce the intensity, complexity, and impact of the problem behaviors displayed by these students by providing supports that are (a) function-based, (b) contextually appropriate and person-centered, (c) strength-based and instructionally oriented, (d) continuously evaluated and enhanced, and (e) linked to the school-wide PBS approach.
~80% of Students

15. What does School-Wide PBS Look Like?
>80% of students can tell you what is expected of them & give behavioral examples
Positive adult-to-student interactions exceed negative
Function based behavior support is foundation for addressing problem behavior
Data- & team-based action planning & implementation are operating
Administrators are active participants
Full continuum of behavior support is available to all students
**Nancy
The zero-zero initiative is an example of additional administrative support.
The full continuum of behavior support will be available in later stages of implementation and will focus on the red zone sutdents.

16. How could we change the school climate?
Establish ROAR Committee: Responsibility, On-Time, Achievement and Respect.
Build meaningful relationships between students and faculty.
Implement Professional Ethical Learning Communities
Develop school service learning program.

18. ROAR Committee
Comprised of administrators, teachers and staff that represent numerous departments and areas, including counselors, parent liaisons, bus drivers, security, specialists, and students.
Meets monthly after school, averaging about 10 attendees each meeting.

19. ROAR Initiatives ROAR Cards Lesson Plans School-Wide Activities
New Discipline Referral Form
Level 1 and Level 2 Referrals
Check-In Check-Out System
Media and Student Involvement

20. West Potomac High School
Responsibility
On-Time Achievement
Respect
We have a responsibility to be on time and prepared, to achieve at a high level and to be respectful of all.

21. ROAR Cards Positive Reinforcement System
Teachers provides student with a card when they exemplify one of our core values.
Cards are drawn every week and students/teachers receive recognition
Quarterly ROAR Assemblies are held to recognize all students that have received cards.

22. ROAR Assembly
ROAR Cocoa, ROAR Bingo, and Student Activity where they come up with ways students can display each core value. Teachers are holding the 4 lists that students came up with for each core value of R.O.A.R.

23. Lesson Plans
Topics have included: ROAR values, Citizenship, Tolerance, Generosity, Perseverance
Lessons are taught through the use of video, activities, class discussion, and writing prompts.

24. School-Wide Activities
Club and Activities Fair
Passport to Success
Mix It Up
Career Fair
Lesson Plans
ROAR Assemblies
Staff Tailgates and Focus Groups
Service Learning

25. Discipline Initiatives
Amended Referral Form
Created Level 1 and Level 2 Referrals
Track referral and attendance data monthly
Currently creating a check-in check-out system

26. Student Involvement and Media
ROAR slides are posted on Channel 6
ROAR reps share info with PTSA
Student newspaper and tv show cover ROAR initiatives
ROAR included in Student Planner
SGA/Club representatives on ROAR committee and support initiatives as well as create their own.

27. Data Referral and attendance data is reviewed monthly
Data kept on ROAR Card recipients and teachers who provided them
Staff and Student surveys will be completed in November
Staff focus groups will take place on Nov.3
SET, TIC and BoQ

28. Barriers Maintaining staff buy-in Funding for activities
Working lessons and initiatives into the school schedule
Getting students more involved

29. SET and BoQ SET: May 0f 2007 Implementation Average – 92%
TIC: May of 2008
73.68% Completed
26.32% In Progress
BoQ: May of 2008
Total Score – 69%
Score of 75% or higher indicates being in the maintenance phase vs. implementation

30. PBS Data: 2003-2008. 52% decrease in office referrals
PBS Data: % decrease in office referrals 74% decrease in suspensions/expulsions

31. Paradigm Shifts we’re seeing…
We’ve noticed a gradual change in focus from:
Aggressive disrespect to an appreciation of manners, respect and excellence.
“Us against them” to shared, thoughtful collaborative relationships between students and staff.
Emphasis on teaching to an emphasis on learning.
“Do what I say” to “understand why it is important for you to do this.”
“It’s someone else’s fault” to assumption of responsibility.

32. Plan for 2008-2009 Continue current initiatives
Increase student and staff involvement
Collaborate with new Dean of Students on attendance concerns and establish check-in check-out system.