Student Support Services

All students in the school utilize a point sheet that follows them throughout their school day. Behaviors on transportation to and from school are also monitored. The point sheet covering academic, social and emotional areas is comprised of sixteen target behaviors plus one target behavior specific to the individualized behavior goal, critical for positive school success. The point sheet is used hourly to mark behavioral performance. Students are given feedback regarding their performance twice daily. The expectation for all students is at least 80% for performance on a consistent basis.

Positive Reinforcement

Britten School’s point sheets are positively based; hence, points are never taken away. Points are either earned or not earned throughout the school day. This data is also summarized and made part of the grading-period report card. As stated earlier, positive reinforcements are critical for developing positive behaviors and for decreasing negative/destructive behaviors. Britten School has developed many types of positive reinforcement:

• The Bulldog Best program recognizes students who excel in demonstrating safe, respectful, and responsible behavior throughout the week and have perfect attendance.
• Students have the ability to cash in their earned Bulldog Bucks each week and purchase items from the school’s store, named the Bulldog Store. Items include snacks, personal hygiene products, small toys, school supplies, and non-tangible items like homework or uniform passes.
• All classrooms have group incentives for reinforcements chosen by students
• All students with BIP’s have individualized reinforcement schedules
• All students achieving Honor Roll status are recognized each grading period by receiving a special certificate and their name posted in the school hallway, as well as a student  pizza lunch
• Positive praise, encouragement, and 1:1 meetings are an important part of the faculty’s daily interaction with the students
• On a daily basis, students have the opportunity to earn “Bulldog Bucks” allowance for the following: attendance, in full uniform with good hygiene, and homework completion

Zones of Regulation

Furthermore, Britten School uses the Zones of Regulation, which is a self-regulation curriculum that provides each student ways to identify his/her current emotional and sensory state while also incorporating social thinking concepts.  The Zones of Regulation curriculum also teaches students how to best identify strategies to more independently control their emotions, prevent impulsiveness, promote conflict resolution, and manage their sensory needs.  This curriculum is incorporated into the Sensory Area at Britten School to provide an enhanced approach for each individual student.  Overall, the Sensory Area provides the opportunity for resilience and gaining independence with self-care and prevention of crisis escalation.

In order to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone at Britten School, students may need to be removed from the learning environment. Students are removed to maintain the integrity of the classroom and learning process. This level of intervention allows faculty to assist the student in regaining emotional/behavioral control and to engage him/her in active problem solving. The use of behavioral intervention is necessary when the student makes choices that negatively affect themselves and their immediate environment. The classrooms provide a structured learning environment with a high level of predictability on a daily basis. Students are consistently assisted in transitioning from one activity to the next by faculty prompting and planned reminders. General prompts are commonly used to help the students orient to the task at hand.

Sensory Room

When a student’s under-stimulated or over-stimulated behavior becomes disruptive in the classroom, faculty remove the student and offer an opportunity to utilize the Sensory Area of the school. There, the student is offered a variety of sensory input activities geared to them specifically for the purpose of sensory recalibration and modulation.  Generally, a student remains in the Sensory Area for 10-15 minutes. At the end of his/her visit, the student is asked to determine his/her capacity to return to the classroom and accept the role of the student. Furthermore, Britten School uses the Zones of Regulation, which is a self-regulation curriculum that provides each student ways to identify his/her current emotional and sensory state while also incorporating social thinking concepts. The Zones of Regulation curriculum also teaches students how to best identify strategies to more independently control their emotions, prevent impulsiveness, promote conflict resolution, and manage their sensory needs. This curriculum is incorporated into the Sensory Area at Britten School to provide an enhanced approach for each individual student. Overall, the Sensory Area provides the opportunity for resilience and gaining independence with self-care and prevention of crisis escalation.

Crisis Prevention Institute

Physical management of Britten School students utilizes management techniques solely derived from the Crisis Prevention Institute (CPI). CPI techniques are the only approved techniques that are utilized. All faculty members attend mandatory training of approved intervention techniques, and they are certified annually. Students are given choices each step of the way to reinforce positive decision-making skills.  All faculty are trained annually on a trauma-informed therapeutic perspective and appropriate interventions.

Britten School has its own faculty member who is a certified trainer in Crisis Prevention Intervention system (CPI). Ongoing and annual training is provided to the entire Britten School faculty to teach and review how to build and utilize positive relationships for effective and safe crisis management.