“It takes a village” is a phrase widely thrown around in the edusphere. That’s because it rings true as it can be applied to nearly every goal or initiative established by K12 leaders and their cabinets. In this school’s case, it reflects the teamwork behind their award-winning PBIS program that’s garnered so much success.
Home to some 2,250 ninth- through 12fth-graders, State College Area High School is the only public high school in its Pennsylvania district. Like many schools since the pandemic, its leaders have noticed a considerable shift in student behavior—until innovation took hold.
They’ve been working to implement PBIS for the better part of 10 years, notes Danielle Ambrosia, the school’s assistant principal, on the latest episode of the “Talking Out of School Podcast. She says it’s been difficult to launch such a program given the school’s size. There was also a dramatic change in leadership in 2021 resulting in five fresh leaders, including Ambrosia and Principal Laura Tobias.
While attending a conference, Tobias heard Hamish Brewer, an author, speaker and award-winning principal, talk about the importance of ensuring students know they’re loved each day.
“That was that an a-ha moment for us, and we took that and started last year by showing kids what love looks like,” says Tobias. That included showing kids their staff’s wedding photos and then presenting examples of teachers working closely with students to help folks differentiate between the two.
“All the good things that are happening in the high school, this is a different type of love,” explains Tobias. Additionally, she communicates the following principles to her students during morning announcements: pause before you post; if it’s not your business, it’s not your business; leave it better than you found it; and remember, we love you State High.
“I tell those students every day that they are loved and we want them with us in this community,” Tobias continues.
Their PBIS program goes even further, and you can learn more about it and the leaders who pioneered this effort by listening to the podcast on Podbean, Apple or Spotify, or down below.
