|Photo by Emma Delk| Marshall County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shelby Haines commended Central Elementary School, Moundsville Middle School and Sherrard Middle School for setting strong behavior standards for students.

Central Elementary School, Moundsville Middle School and Sherrard Middle School were recognized for setting exemplary student behavior models as 2024-25 West Virginia Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Tier 1 Model Schools.

The title was given to the three schools by the West Virginia Behavior/Mental Health Technical Assistance Center. The WVBMHTAC created the state’s school-wide PBIS project in collaboration with the West Virginia Autism Training Center at Marshall University and the WEst Virginia Department of Education.

The PBIS program has three behavior tiers, designating levels of behavior intervention needed for students at each school.

Tier 1 consists of the majority of the student body that has no behavioral issues, about 80% of students. Tier 2 is designated for students who struggle with behavior that need to be re-taught proper practices, about 15-20% of students. Tier 3 is for students with significant behavioral issues who receive individualized behavior plans, about 5% of students.

PBIS Tier 1 is where students are taught expectations and procedures for positive behavior in school. Marshall County Schools Superintendent Dr. Shelby Haines said the three schools selected by the WV PBIS Leadership Team were recognized for their “outstanding performance” in Tier 1.

“If you go around any of our schools, you’ll see signs that say ‘Be prepared, be on time and walk on the right side of the hallway,'” Haines said. “A lot of the schools have acronyms to help students remember behavior standards that are taught in Tier 1.”

The WV PBIS Leadership Team began searching for WV PBIS Tier 1 Model Schools in January. The process for schools renewing their status in the program involves school teams submitting evidence of their work, data analysis and impact stories.

“The Model Schools initiative is an integral part of our project,” WV PBIS Coordinator Alicia Ziman said. “Identifying Model Schools gives us the opportunity to showcase the work these schools have found to be effective. Model Schools can instill an excitement in others through their passion and dedication to the PBIS Framework that is hard to capture in any training alone.”

Sherrard Middle School Principal Rob Chavanak said the school submitted data for the program that included how school disciplinary measures have decreased since the school began its PBIS initiative. The school also detailed incentives and initiatives it has implemented for kids, such as reflection sheets for students to complete when they’ve done something wrong.

Sherrard Middle’s acronym for PBIS is “RAMS,” which stands for “respectful, accountable, motivated, and safe.” Signage throughout the school reminds students of these practices, and teachers define each part of “RAMS” for them.

“We teach students the behavioral expectations and always give them some range of what consequences may be for a certain expectation they don’t meet, such as missing some of their lunch time to complete a reflection sheet,” Chavanak said. “We’ll reteach the behavior and discuss how it affects not just them, but the other students in class.”

Chavanak said buy-in from faculty for PBIS implementation has created a “good school culture.”

“The faculty bought into this program and wanted to make sure they set the expectations,” Chavanak said. “They make sure that kids are following those expectations, not just in the classroom, but in the hallway, bathroom, locker rooms and all other places.”

Haines commended the work of the three schools’ staff and students for their dedication to PBIS implementation. She noted that by doing a “good job” in Tier 1 PBIS implementation, fewer students would enter Tiers 2 and 3.

“If you don’t do a good job in Tier 1, your triangle starts to look like an ice cream cone, and you have fewer kids in the bottom tier and more in the top tier needing individualized behavior intervention,” Haines said. “In school, we teach children how to read, and if children have difficulty learning to read, we reteach them. We do the same for behavior instead of punishing students. They are retaught the behavior standards and receive a framework for positive behavior in the future.”