When Going to the Principal's Office is a Good Thing

Good deeds are contagious at Jockey Hollow Middle School. A teacher lugging boxes upstairs is likely to be besieged by students offering to carry them for her. Other students are holding doors open for each other. Someone who drops papers in the hallway is far more likely to get a hand picking them up.

Though politeness among the student body is nothing new, Principal Jack Ceccolini says the Positive Behavior Support program has made it noticeably more common. In fact, PBS began about two-and-a-half years ago, and suspensions were reduced by 50 percent after the first full year, according to Ceccolini.

Jockey Hollow is "Home of the Lions," and the faculty instills "Lion's Pride" in its students, emphasizing respect, responsibility and safety.

"We've embraced this as a culture," Ceccolini said, "so the entire staff speaks the language."

On the first day of school, seventh graders meet in the auditorium and eighth graders assemble in the gym for pep talks about the year ahead.

"I mention Lion's Pride and the teachers talk about it in first period," Ceccolini said. "The next week there is an assembly and Lion's Pride is a part of it."

Teachers who first talk their classes about Lion's Pride also present the student handbook.

"Then I'll meet with them and we'll go over school expectations with a PowerPoint on Lion's Pride," Ceccolini said.

In addition to the reinforcement by teachers of what behavior is expected, white Lion's Pride posters with blue ink are displayed throughout the building — on a wall of every room, in the hallways, on lavatory doors and the auditorium door.

"In terms of what you are looking for, this is not unusual," Ceccolini said of telling preteens to be well-behaved. "It's really how you share the information with the kids that has changed. We limit the vocabulary to respect, responsibility and safety. They hear these words."

"It's not a panacea," he added. "I don't want anyone to think it's a panacea, but we think there is an advantage to instructing expectations no differently than math and reading."

'It's catchy'

Whenever staff members see students perform a good deed, Ceccolini said they can write the boys' and girls' names on a slip of paper, sign it, and put it in a box for their grade. Every Friday morning, Ceccolini pulls five names from each grade and those students are called to the main office, where a spread of prizes awaits them.

Coupons for the school store or for treats in the cafeteria, visors, hats and T-shirts are among the donated merchandise students can choose from.

"We didn't think the 'Jockey Hollow Pride' T-shirts would be very popular, but it's the most popular," Ceccolini said of what the winners pick most.

He said it is perfectly fine if some students are kind and helpful to others with winning a prize as motivation. "What we're trying to do is develop habits," Ceccolini said.

Gina Picheco, a seventh grade language arts teacher, said some teachers will also award students displaying positive social behavior with tickets for raffles.

Ceccolini said most adults tend to punish bad behavior, while treating good behavior as something to be expected. Picheco added that Jockey Hollow students initialy seemed surprised when their kindness did not go unnoticed.

"At the beginning, they were shocked to be recognized for doing good things," Picheco said of the start of PBS.

She has noticed a difference in attitudes throughout the school since PBS started. More students are volunteering to pass out papers and are showing respect for their classmates' property, Picheco said, sharing some examples.

The rewards of students' kindness have made Friday morning's announcements into a weekly event.

"I think it affects those kids who normally get into trouble to hear their name," Picheco said.

"Kids who seek attention will do it positively," Ceccolini said.

"It's catchy," Picheco said.