Published: September 01, 2007 09:01 pm         

Allegany County educators attend PBIS summer institute

CUMBERLAND —To demonstrate just how committed Allegany County’s Public Schools are to increasing positive behaviors, 12 school teams, consisting of administrators, teachers, counselors, and support personnel, attended the first regional PBIS Summer Institute in Frederick in July. Approximately 300 participants from Allegany, Garrett, Washington, Frederick and Carroll counties attended the workshop.

Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports is a systematic organization of school environments and routines designed to allow educators the increased capacity to adopt, utilize, and sustain effective behavioral practices and processes for all students. Hundreds of schools throughout the state of Maryland are incorporating the PBIS process into daily practices in an effort to improve school atmospheres.

Tim Lewis was the keynote speaker during the two-day event and he discussed effective classroom management strategies with the group. On day two of the workshop, the 12 Allegany County teams returned home to review what they learned and use it to gain a better understanding of the action planning process and to develop action plans for individual schools to be implemented during the 2007-2008 school year.

Currently, 13 schools in Allegany County are active PBIS schools, and during the workshop, six of these schools were recognized as outstanding PBIS schools.

Beall and West Side elementary schools received a special honor by being named Maryland Exemplar Schools for the PBIS program. According to Beall Elementary’s assistant principal, Andrew Clever, “This award reflects a real commitment on the part of the entire staff to create a school where every individual feels safe and respected, and all students learn.”