Henrico Schools expands PBIS to 15 more schools

Positive behavioral reinforcement for elementary school students and tutoring for secondary school students were significant topics of discussion at Thursday night’s school board work session.

PBIS – positive behavioral interventions and support – now have been implemented at 31 of Henrico’s 46 elementary schools, up from 16 last year.

According to Director of Elementary School Education Scott Thorpe, all 46 elementary schools will adopt these policies next year.

PBIS focuses on rewarding students for following rules, rather than punishing those who break them. According to Thorpe, staff will outline expectations at the beginning of the year, teach them to students, and reward students who adhere to them.

“The reward is often just praise, or a positive call home,” Thorpe said.

If enough students in a class follow the expectations, the class may be rewarded with, for example, a pizza party.

If a student consistently does not follow expectations, Thorpe said that staff will follow what he called a ‘Tier 2’ plan with the student – providing an individualized plan for how they can succeed.

“We’ll provide additional action or strategy goals for the day,” Thorpe said.

Meanwhile, a new tutoring program is starting in middle and high schools. As the result of extra funding, some students will have multiple opportunities to receive virtual tutoring during the day – including during advisory, during study hall, and after school.

The opportunity for ‘anytime, anywhere’ online tutoring through the FEV tutoring program is based on student need, according to Director of Middle School Education Deia Champ.

“Students have the opportunity to receive remediation, intervention, enrichment, and tutoring during multiple times of the day,” Champ said.

The new tutoring program will begin Oct. 3, Champ said. Families of students who qualify will be notified.

The board had planned to discuss school accountability scores, but the scores – which determine whether schools can be accredited or not – had not been released by the time of the meeting.

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Anya Sczerzenie is the Henrico Citizen’s education reporter and a Report for America corps member. Make a tax-deductible donation to support her work, and RFA will match it dollar for dollar. Sign up here for her free weekly education newsletter.