Discipline
Discipline
Heilicher’s three pillars (safety, kindness, and responsibility) provide the foundation for its discipline practices. Each student has the right to feel safe in school, to learn in school, and is responsible for upholding those rights for every other student. The goal of Heilicher’s discipline practices is to ensure those rights and responsibilities for all students.
General Behavioral Expectations
Heilicher establishes classroom standards to ensure age-appropriate student-like behavior. Most students maintain those standards independently. Some students need occasional reminders of the standards. Still others need ongoing individual support/systems to stay on track.
Teachers are the primary authority figures in the school. They are expected to resolve the most common behavioral issues with the student (e.g., calling out of turn, interrupting others, not having materials ready, leaving one’s seat without permission, distracting others, etc.). Teachers are expected to select from a menu of consequences from mild to severe. The consequences are not punitive; rather, they are to remind the student individual behavior affects others; each student has an obligation to every other group member.
Consequences may include, but are not limited to:
1. redirecting the behavior with a simple reminder,
2. speaking with the student,
3. problem-solving together with the student,
4. time-out with supervision,
5. loss of classroom/school privileges
6. communication with home, and/or
7. referral to the school office
If these responses are not effective within a reasonable time period and the inappropriate behavior continues, the teacher may need to resort to an additional set of responses/consequences.
Frequent repetition of a minor offense may result in a parent/guardian conference to develop a behavior management plan with frequent review and monitoring procedures. The school reserves the right to obtain additional assessment, and/or seek outside consultation services and support.
Specific Behavioral Expectations
Not-Tolerated Behavioral Offenses
The following behavioral offenses are not tolerated at Heilicher and will result in an immediate suspension and potential expulsion, pending appropriate review:
1. possession of drugs, alcohol, tobacco,
2. possession of pornographic material,
3. possession of weapons, or
4. physical aggression toward self or others (students or teachers). This includes, but is not limited to, intentionally:
a. hitting,
b. kicking,
c. biting,
d. spitting, or
e. throwing objects such as rocks, books, equipment, snowballs
5. damaging school or individual property, and
6. stealing school or individual property.
Serious Behavioral Offenses
The following serious behavioral offenses will trigger the hierarchy of consequences listed below:
1. Verbal aggression toward others (students or teachers). This includes, but is not limited to:
a. profanity and insulting, abusive language,
b. threats, or
c. physical gestures,
2. refusing to comply with school authorities,
3. non-responsiveness to repeated application of general classroom consequences,
4. leaving a supervised area without permission, and
5. inability to engage appropriately in classroom learning activities.
Consequences for serious behavioral offenses include, but are not limited to:
First Offense
1. The student will be sent to the office with an office referral form. The student will be guided through a t’shuva (return and restore) process to:
a. define the problem,
b. acknowledge their contribution to the situation,
c. identify an alternative strategy that would more effectively address the problem,
d. develop a future plan of action that would enable the student to apply the strategy,
e. reset and re-engage appropriately in classroom activities,
f. apologize to the appropriate person(s),
g. act to make the other person “whole” (in addition to the apology),
h. fill out a reflection sheet to be signed at home and brought back to school.
2. This office referral is documented and included in the student’s file.
3. Parents/guardians will be contacted by the referring teacher.
Second Offense
The consequences for a first offense are repeated. Additionally:
1. A peer support referral is made to the Student Services Coordinator to develop a plan in conjunction with the help of the student and classroom teacher.
2. The student may lose social peer time [recess, lunch].
3. Parents/Guardians are notified a third offense may result in suspension.
Third Offense
1. A formal parent/guardian conference is scheduled.
2. The student is excluded from the classroom for part or all of the day (internal suspension).
3. The student may be suspended for a defined period of time (external suspension).
If serious offenses continue to occur and continued review and planning do not produce the desired change in behavior, the school retains the right to expel the student.
In some instances, if a first offense is considered serious enough in nature, it may immediately be dealt with at the level of the second or third offense.