Children Seen & Heard

Little kids showed much bigger kids how to play nice.

They talked about how good their teachers are and how to treat others with respect. These children -- first- and second-graders at Overbrook School -- showed the Board of Education, through the written word, what their positive behaviors look like.

Principal Karen Schmidt and her gaggle of students were the board’s guests Tuesday evening. One by one, the Overbrook children read from papers they'd written how much they like their school, their teachers and treating each other well.

Overbrook along with Ferrara and the middle school are the first in the district to try out a behavioral initiative called Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Students are taught such things as what voice level to use in different parts of the school; to wash hands and use cleaning supplies correctly; the importance of respect.

Karin Aldridge, Deer Run school psychologist and the PBIS district coach, told the school board this is a three- to five-year project. Within the next two years, it will be in all East Haven public schools.

“It’s not a cookie-cutter approach,” said Aldridge. “The premise is that all children can learn positive behavior.” She said while there is a strong intervention piece to PBIS, it’s more focused on prevention of negative behaviors.

PBIS was developed 12 years ago for students with “severe disabilities who engaged in self-injury and aggressive behavior,” according to the Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center website. It has since been found effective with all children.

“The difference between PBIS and traditional approaches is that PBIS focuses on changing the environment while traditional approaches focus primarily on changing the person,” according to the website.

Aldridge said PBIS uses rewards and incentives to help correct and prevent ill conduct instead of the commonly used suspensions, expulsions and other punitive measures.

Teachers get training from the State Education Resource Center and work with a PBIS team of school administrators and special ed and pupil services teachers.