At S.C. School, Behavior Is One of the Basics

Kenneth Thomas, a 7th grader, ponders a lesson in his PRIDE 101 class at Haut Gap Middle School. As part of the school’s approach to addressing behavior, all students take a course in how to be a Haut Gap student.

—Amelia Phillips Hale for Education Week

A Charleston middle school joins the growing number nationwide that use PBIS strategies to teach students how to behave

By Nirvi Shah

Charleston, S.C.

Along with reading, science, and mathematics classes, every student here at Haut Gap Middle School takes a course in how to be a Haut Gap student.

For most students, the class is 40 minutes a day for nine weeks. But it can last 18 weeks for students who need extra time to nail concepts such as how to own up to mistakes, accept feedback, and apologize appropriately.

Those lessons are part of a schoolwide approach to addressing student behavior that Haut Gap has used for about five years: Positive Behavioral Interventions...