How Huron Elementary School Uses PBIS Rewards to Bring the Entire Community Together

Case Study

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Creating a Positive School Culture: Navigate360’s PBIS Rewards & Huron Elementary School

Fostering a positive school environment and helping students develop strategies to succeed academically, emotionally and socially are top-of-mind goals for most school districts. The challenge, however, lies in consistently communicating and reinforcing school values and behavioral standards schoolwide. This became even more difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic when many schools were operating virtually.

One particular school faced this challenge head-on with PBIS Rewards. A digital platform that simplifies the management of a school’s positive behavior intervention and supports (PBIS) initiative, PBIS Rewards makes it simple for the whole school to participate in student recognition, providing consistency throughout the campus and improving overall school culture.

Huron Elementary School in Huron, California, is a K-5 school in a rural community located just outside of Fresno. Many of the students that Huron serves come from farm and migrant worker families. During the pandemic, Huron worked diligently to keep their students and families connected to the school community. Digitally managing their PBIS initiative gave them a much-needed avenue for this connection.

Huron Elementary by the Numbers:

Read more to discover how Huron serves its entire community through the implementation of PBIS Rewards.

Why Huron Elementary Chose PBIS Rewards to Solve Common Challenges That Many Schools Face

Many schools in the Coalinga-Huron Unified School District were using a variety of free apps to keep track of various student data points. However, security and confidentiality of student data was a concern, and the district office instructed schools to discontinue this practice.

Huron had been using a free app to track student points in a reward system and sought an alternative that would allow them to continue reinforcing positive student behavior without jeopardizing student privacy. This solution also needed to fit within the school’s budget. A neighboring school introduced them to a tool they had implemented successfully – PBIS Rewards.

A cost analysis of PBIS Rewards indicated that the software subscription was more economical than printing out points tickets on an ongoing basis, a common practice in PBIS initiatives. The system could keep student information secure, allow the school to track student progress and enable every member of the school staff to participate in the PBIS initiative.

How PBIS Rewards Helped Foster Community Support in Trying Times

For schools that serve a multi-lingual, transient and disadvantaged population, providing opportunities for success is critical. Huron is in many ways a touchpoint for the farm and migrant worker community, and parents and caregivers are very invested in their children’s educational experience.

As the school embarked on a period of virtual education during COVID-19, Huron Elementary knew it was critical to both continue their PBIS initiative and involve parents in the process. PBIS Rewards enabled them to adapt their school values to a virtual environment. Because points were earned and tracked in the app, students were able to develop responsible behaviors in a digital setting.

To involve parents and caregivers, Huron hosted a series of family workshops designed to introduce them to PBIS Rewards and give an overview of how it works. Because many of the families do not speak English and are not available until after 5pm or on the weekends, Huron made accommodations for that. School staff held evening and weekend sessions for families to introduce them to PBIS Rewards. Families were able to interact with the app on school-provided iPads during these sessions, following along with slides pulled from screenshots of the app. These family information sessions demonstrated how PBIS Rewards would positively impact the school community. The fact that the PBIS Rewards Family App is available in Spanish also helps the families connect to the school.

How Huron Elementary Connects With At-Risk Students Through PBIS Rewards

A PBIS initiative can play an important role in the development of what’s known as “soft skills” – those essential qualities that enable individuals to be productive members of society.

Huron develops trusted relationships between staff members and students through their “Nest Mom” program. Each grade is assigned a single staff member who checks in with the students in that grade each morning. This is an excellent way to take the social and emotional temperature of students before the day begins. Even during the pandemic, Nest Moms were able to check in on their students virtually before releasing them to their online classes for the day.

To take that check-in a step further, Huron initiated SEL Check within the PBIS Rewards app. In person or online, PBIS Rewards’ SEL Check feature allows students to “check in” at any time to gauge their social and emotional state. This feature is accessible in the PBIS Rewards Student App and in the PBIS Rewards app for staff use.

Students can record a self-check within the app at any time. High-risk self-checks send a notification to designated staff, who can then follow up. This can involve not only school counselors and teachers, but also parents or guardians. Students are given specific instruction to help them identify needs as well as tools to help them manage their emotions in the interim. Huron also offers family training to help parents and guardians address and validate social and emotional needs in high-risk check-ins.

Impacting Students and Families

Huron Elementary had already established itself as a place where positive relationships develop and thrive, long before the pandemic began. The school serves as a place for families to take part in the educational process that their children experience.

Adopting PBIS Rewards for the school community allows families to be involved more deeply, and as their work schedule allows. It gives parents and guardians a more in-depth look at how their student is faring, behaviorally, socially and emotionally. The impact has been highly beneficial for Huron’s school community as they maintained PBIS Rewards as a part of their school’s culture even after pandemic restrictions were lifted and students returned to school. The consistency of expectations from virtual learning to in-person learning enabled students to continue to build good habits and positive behaviors across all settings. Family involvement encourages students to uphold positive behavioral standards at home, as well, allowing schools and families to work together to support students.

How Navigate360 Can Help Your District Support Student Wellness & Success

Navigate360’s PBIS Rewards helps schools create a positive climate in which every student can learn and grow academically, socially and emotionally. Our system simplifies the implementation and tracking of a school’s PBIS framework. With PBIS Rewards, school administration can clearly see how teachers are utilizing the PBIS framework and how it is improving school culture.

PBIS Rewards is easy to use, fun for both students and staff and provides accountability for everyone in the school. Our suite of PBIS Rewards apps includes a family app that gives parents a view into how their child is doing within the PBIS program.

To learn more about implementing PBIS Rewards in your district, visit the PBIS eBook Library or contact us today.

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