Riverview Officials Hope to Establish Sense of Community and Culture With New Program

Riverview School District will implement a program in positive behavior management.

At Monday's school board study session, Bob Lindeman, high school teacher and cochair of the district's professional development committee, said the committee has been focusing common core standards, inter disciplinary practices and the culture of Riverview.

The state department of education will have higher standards for students to meet, and Lindeman said the implementation of a new positive behavior management system could help the district meet new goals.

"This is a way to talk about what our culture is and how to communicate our expectations," he said. "It's not an 'if you break the rules, this is what we're going to do to do.' It's 'this is who we want to be.'"

Lindeman said positive expectations carry over to the students, and it already can be seen the behavior of students during field trips.

District Superintendent Charles Erdeljac agreed.

"The psychology that a student brings into building and a classroom—everything from appropriate dress to the rules and regulation of how people treat one another—contributes to the expectation to perform inside the classroom," he said.

Lynn Black, the district's director of student achievement, said defining district culture is one of the five focal points of the district's strategic plan. She said the committee is going to apply for grants to help pay for activities relating to the new system.

Black said the teacher and student population has changed throughout the years, and this program will help make sure everyone is on the same page.

"We're excited about this," she said.

Black said the program is very data-driven, and staff will observe to see what the problem areas and problem times are at the different school buildings.

Board member Anne Shearon said she thinks this is going to be a positive change for the district, but she is concerned about teachers supporting the program.

Lindeman said there never will be 100 percent buy in, but teachers are going to have to go through extensive discussions before they get to a consensus of what works.

"That's going to be really messy, and it's going to take time," he said. "We have to let them talk that out and think about it."