The Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) system is coming to Tallwood High School in order to promote a more positive environment for students and teachers.

The system was set into motion a couple of years ago, and Tallwood, alongside other high schools, will be implementing PBIS after enough data has been gathered about its potential and what the expectations are for everyone. 

“The idea behind it is to create a schoolwide culture where everybody agrees on how we want our school to look and how we expect others and ourselves to conduct ourselves in school,” stated Mrs. Graver, Library Media Specialist, when asked what the basis of PBIS is.

Mrs. Graver expressed “concern” because the surveys and discussions about PBIS might not express “the feedback from everyone.” However, she also commented, “But we’ve been trying really hard to reach out to all students and getting all of that back, so we can have an accurate look at what everybody in the school wants.”

The Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports program has the “potential to positively change the culture of the school through its initiatives,” said Dr. James Avila, Tallwood Principal. 

According to Dr. Avila, the initiatives of PBIS vary from having an effect on “culture as well as behavior,” producing “more time for teaching and learning,” developing “a common language of expectations,” and encouraging “student engagement” as well as “students’ social emotional development.”

The program places an emphasis on the incorporation of both student and teacher input in addition to increasing positivity in the communities’ of different schools. 

PBIS itself has the potential to greatly influence the Tallwood community for all Lions. As Mrs. Graver has commented, “I hope it will create a culture of positivity in the school and everybody having each others backs and kind of creating more of a community here at Tallwood.”