Nine KCPS elementary schools will be honored in June by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for successfully implementing the Missouri Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support program.

The Positive Behavior Support Program is a collection of strategies, incentives and supports school administrators use to encourage good behavior among students. The following KCPS elementary schools all received a bronze award for their work: Faxon, Garfield, J.A. Rogers, Hartman, Troost, Phillips, Wheatley and Whitter. The schools were among 264 schools statewide that were honored. 

According to DESE, the school recognition affords schools and districts the opportunity to accurately self-reflect on their progress, and it allows DESE an opportunity to recognize those schools that have met the criteria in appreciation of their progress. Schools may receive a gold, silver, or bronze honor.

“The bar is purposefully set high for a school to achieve any one of these criteria. Typically, it is a two to four year process for a school to achieve bronze, a three to six year process to achieve silver, and a five to eight year process to achieve gold,” read a statement on the Positive Behavior Support Program website (www.pbismissouri.org). “The number of years it takes to achieve each is lengthy because it involves true systems change, sustaining that change each year, and implementing processes to support students and staff across multiple indicators at all three tiers of prevention and intervention."