HOUSTON, Miss. (WTVA) - Students at Houston Upper Elementary School recite the PBIS pledge daily.
The Positive Behavior Intervention Support program has been in place at this school for several years now.
Signs are placed throughout the school and in classrooms with words like respectful, responsible, successful.
Teacher Kim Sellers said, "You don't want to hear negative all the time. You don't want to hear 'don't do that' or 'stop doing that.' You would instead say 'Johnny I like the way you're walking in line.' Hopefully that person behind him will move over and get in line."
This program doesn't mean discipline is ignored.
But the idea is to reward positive behavior in school, which will then hopefully lead to less discipline problems and more success for the school as a whole.
Sellers said, "Once you have a positive school system in place, everything else will fall in place as far as scores and attendance. They'll want to come to school and be eager to learn."
Along with Houston Upper Elementary, this program is in place in all of the Houston Public Schools.
Students are rewarded for good behavior, all while encouraging others to follow their lead.
Principal John Ellison said, "With tickets [students earn], they get to trade them in for snow cones, toys at the school store and a lot of different rewards. They look forward to that. Anytime you get kids excited about coming to school, it's definitely going to have an impact on the academic side of it."
The principal adds re-enforcement from home of these positive behaviors is also key in making sure their school system achieves success.
