By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

Recognition can work just as well as punishment in creating an orderly school environment.

That’s the guiding theory behind PBIS, an approach to education that centers on recognizing good behavior as a means of creating an orderly school environment.

Educators at New Boston Central School have adopted PBIS, or Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, as a means of improving student behavior this year.

The strategy provides staff and students with clear and consistent expectations, and praises children who meet behavioral standards, said Assistant Principal Tori Tuthill.

“It’s an opportunity to work together on expectations for both staff and students,” Tuthill said.

The program will focus on several areas of concern throughout the year, beginning with hallways, she said. Specifically, the program will first concentrate on unstructured time in the hallways, such as when children are walking to use the restrooms.

Expectations for hallway behavior are posted throughout the school, Tuthill said. Students seen following the rules are given a ticket in recognition of their good behavior. Students to receive 10 tickets are given a colored bracelet for their achievement.

School officials hope to award 80 percent of the students with bracelets, Tuthill said, and ordered enough bracelets for all of the school’s 526 students, she said.

To keep expectations consistent throughout the school, rules for behavior are also posted in teachers’ areas, Tuthill said.

“We (teachers) need to be quiet in the hallways too,” Tuthill said. “It allows for consistency, that teachers follow the same rules as students.”

Other areas to be covered throughout the school year include bathrooms, recess, cafeteria and work completion, said Principal Rick Matthews.

The school’s participation in PBIS originated with Matthews, Tuthill and school board member Audrey Schneider attending a workshop on the subject last October.

Following that, Eric Mann of the Bedford-based Southeastern Regional Education Services Center gave a presentation on the subject to the staff of the New Boston School District.