Early childhood students in the Mehlville School District recently donned their best pajamas when they attended the early childhood program’s PJs with PBIS Family Night at the John Cary Early Childhood Center.
The event provided students and their families with an opportunity to learn about and celebrate the early childhood program’s award-winning Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports, or PBIS, strategies.
During the event, early childhood students participated in several fun activities, including exercising, puppet-making, a magical story and a litter walk, which reflected the early childhood program’s PBIS Take Care Code. Through the four components of the Take Care Code, students learn on a daily basis how to take care of themselves, each other, their school and their world.
The parents who attended the Nov. 1 Family Night learned best practices for utilizing PBIS strategies with their students at home.
The program’s PBIS team presented parents with the basic strategies and principles and parents participated in hands-on activities and a question-and-answer session.
“In the past, we’ve had a PBIS celebration during school to focus on the four components of our Take Care Code in a fun way,” early childhood teacher Heather Block stated in a district news release. “This year, we thought about how we could celebrate with the students while teaching parents about the PBIS strategies they can use at home.”
The Mehlville early childhood program has been recognized four times in the past six years by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the University of Missouri Center for School-Wide Positive Behavior Support for implementing positive behavior support and improving students’ behavior and academic performance. In the 2011 Missouri School-Wide Positive Behavior Support School Recognition Program, the early childhood program earned a gold medal.
Both parents and students enjoyed this year’s event, according to Block.
“The feedback from parents was very positive and the kids had a great time,” she stated.
The early childhood program plans to make the family PBIS celebration an annual event.
