Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
Only 157 schools in Wisconsin were recognized as a 2015 School of Distinction, and two of them are in Shawano.
Hillcrest Primary School and Olga Brener Intermediate School are among the schools recognized for excellence by the state Department of Public Instruction. Both schools will be honored in August at an annual leadership conference for the state’s Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports program.
“PBIS is a systemwide proactive framework that enables schools to be more effective and responsive to student social-emotional needs by implementing a multi-level system of support for behaviors,” said Carolyn Stanford Taylor, assistant state superintendent of DPI’s division of learning support.
Karen Smith, principal at Olga Brener, said she was very pleased her school was receiving the honor, noting that the school focuses on keeping office referrals and other negative consequences to a minimum.
“Our team works very hard, and it’s definitely a team effort,” Smith said. “We’re glad that our efforts were recognized by the state.”
Smith said the school uses a proactive approach and teaches the proper way for students to behave. By making students “responsible citizens” early on, she explained, it allows more time in the classroom for learning.
Smith noted Hillcrest does the same thing, so when students go from second grade at Hillcrest to third grade at Olga Brener, the transition is seamless, because the children are familiar with expectations and the district’s language associated with learning new behaviors.
“We show them that this is the right way, and this is how we do it here at Brener,” Smith said. “We follow three rules about being respectful, being responsible and safe. We always want them to think about what they’re doing to meet these standards.”
Smith said her school would continue to look at how it is doing things and try to adjust the system if it no longer meets the needs of students and staff.
Hillcrest will receive a second honor at the PBIS conference as a School of Merit for reading. Sixty-two schools statewide are being honored for the achievement.
Troy Edwards, Hillcrest principal, was out of town this week and could not be reached for comment.