Healthy & Supportive Learning Environments
The Sioux City Community School District has implemented extensive wrap around services to meet students’ emotional and mental health needs. These additional support services build citizenship, a sense of community, and an enhanced learning experience for students.
Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS)
It’s important to define, teach, and support appropriate student behavior at all grade levels. Using Positive Behavior Intervention Supports, or PBIS, all students in the District are taught positive behavior expectations and acknowledged for following these expectations. Research shows that the PBIS positive reinforcement model is much more effective than waiting to respond to misbehavior.
PBIS is a multi-tiered systems approach to address the social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students, which is implemented in every building. The three tiered system addresses both prevention and intervention. The strategies used, which are evidenced based and determined by data, can address the needs of the whole student body to groups of students to individual students. Ultimately, PBIS is a method to teaching and acknowledge students appropriate behavior.
Second Step
At the elementary level, PBIS is reinforced by the Second Step Program, which also designed to decrease problem behaviors, increase students’ school success, and promote social and emotional competence and self-regulation. Second Step is an effective social-emotional learning tool to nurture students in their early school years.
Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP)
Then, in the middle and high school years, students are introduced to the Mentors in Violence Prevention, or MVP, program. MVP is a peer-based, prevention program that gives upperclassmen the tools to mentor underclassmen on topics such as gender equality and bullying prevention. Interactive scenarios and group discussion create hands-on learning among students and addresses relevant topics for today’s youth.