December 7, 2021:
Jenn Turner, Sunderland Elementary Principal, realized the upcoming school year would be anything but a return to normalcy. It was the summer of 2020 and preparations were underway on welcoming students back to the classroom after shutting down the previous March. “That July and August I participated in brainstorming sessions with my colleagues to figure out how we would reopen schools that Fall,” says Turner. “As we talked for the first time about things like masks, social distancing, plexiglass partitions, and recess restrictions, I realized that in addition to academics, our teachers and staff needed to pay extra attention to the emotional fallout from the pandemic.”
Turner’s response was to focus her faculty’s attention on the school’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program. PBIS makes a priority of teaching, practicing and reinforcing positive behavior at school each and every day. At Sunderland, home of The Bears, children are incentivized to earn tokens, such as Honey Drops and Bear Bucks, that can be redeemed for goodies at the school store. This is their reward for being a safe, respectful and responsible member of the school community.
Aided by a team of Sunderland instructors - Cindy Granger, Kristen Benamati, and Megan Mead - Turner followed the lead of the Bennington-Rutland Supervisory Union (BRSU) and concentrated on three areas to build a foundation for positive behavior: safety, trust, and relationships. Make the school safe for children. Build trust with students and families. Reestablish relationships: student-to-student, student-to-teacher, family-to-school.
Fast forward one year later, and Sunderland did such a good job that the school was designated a state PBIS “School of Recognition” by Vermont PBIS. Sunderland, the only PBIS program honored in Bennington County, was one of 43 schools selected statewide.
Sunderland’s achievement was noted in a letter to Turner from Dan French, Vermont Secretary of Education. “As Secretary, I recognize the importance of prioritizing social, emotional, behavioral learning and well-being to achieve success for all learners … Your team maintained PBIS as a priority, despite many distractions, and worked harder than ever to engage students and families, improve school climate, and consider issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
A centerpiece of Sunderland’s plan was to provide all instructors with training in five competencies: Self-awareness (emotional recognition), self-management (emotion management and impulse control), social awareness (empathy), relationship skills (communication and assertiveness), and responsible decision-making (problem solving). These added skills came in handy as the students returned to the classroom.
To measure the impact of Sunderland’s added emphasis on PBIS, Turner refined systems to gather data and monitor performance. During 2020-21, for example, with added attention on positive behavior, the number of Office Disciplinary Referrals (ODR) dropped by half from pre-pandemic levels.
The teachers at Sunderland have been energized and engaged by the student response to the focus on positive behavior and plan to continue best practices. “These kids came back to school vulnerable after the pandemic shutdown,” says Turner. “Working hard to give added attention to their social emotional learning is the least we can do.”
