Moundsville Middle Is a Model for Rest of State on Improving Behavior
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Moundsville Middle School is a model in the state for its practices to help students improve their behavior and attendance.
Principal Robert Chavanak said Monday his school's practices were reviewed by state officials who then named the school a 2022-23 West Virginia Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Tier 1 Model School.
"We're super excited. We love to put Moundsville Middle School out there as being a bright spot with PBIS," he said. "We're excited for other schools to come in and see what we're doing here. They can see all the great things we have going on."
Moundsville Middle School has 410 students in grades 6-8.
In a letter to the school district, Alicia Ziman, West Virginia PBIS coordinator, explained why the school was chosen.
"They work consistently to make decisions in true support of their students and recognizing the best ways to meet their needs to drive them towards success," Ziman said.
"Being a Trojan means understanding what it looks like to be Respectful, Responsible, and Safe and these values are skills that students are learning to support their growth each day.
"They function at a high level and have a unique ability to share their success and story.
"With their solid understanding and implementation of PBIS they are seen as an inspiration to other middle schools across the state."
Chavanak said starting next school year, administrators from across the state will begin visiting Moundsville Middle to learn more about its practices.
"'Be respectful, be responsible, be safe' is our slogan," Chavanak said.
He noted the students are taught to be responsible for themselves and their behavior. They are rewarded for good behavior and attendance. When they stray from what is expected of them the school uses interventions to remedy the situation.
While in school the students are expected to be prepared and ready to learn.
"We have our expectations posted throughout the school. In the hallway, it also tells how to do it, and in the bathroom and the cafeteria," he said. "When they don't we talk to the students, reteach and we have a list of interventions we will go down."
The school also uses positive reinforcement including "shout outs" over the intercom during lunchtime, prize drawings and a monthly celebration for those with good attendance, no failing grades and no discipline referrals. There is also a prize closet containing items such as school T-shirts.
"We did student and teacher kickball and Wiffle ball. We had a day dance. Just fun little things like that during the last 40 minutes of the school day," Chavanak said.
Chavanak said the school wanted to receive the evaluation to see how it was doing, and whether any areas needed to be improved. This led to the school getting named as a model school.
Chavanak said good behavior is an important part of the learning process.
"If students aren't able to behave and be successful, if they're not in class, they're not going to learn," he said. "It's very important to give the students the tools they need to be successful."