Positive school climate

Aligning BTAM and MTSS/PBIS implementation is mutually beneficial for the enhancement of school climate, student well-being, and safety.

Positive school climates built on a culture of safety, respect, trust, and social-emotional support enhance targeted violence prevention.

Safe school environments are characterized by adults who prioritize student support, encourage communication between faculty and students, actively intervene in conflicts, and work to prevent harassment and bullying.

In schools where teachers and staff are encouraged to build positive, trusting relationships with students, students feel connected, cared for, and empowered to share concerns without fear of discipline or shame.

Schools should actively maintain positive school climates featuring safe, respectful, and trusting cultures that support students’ social and emotional well-being, while clearly specifying expected school behaviors needed to maintain an effective learning environment.

All school staff should encourage communication between adults and students, intervene in social conflicts, and actively confront bullying behavior.

Schools should encourage and support teachers in building positive, trusting relationships with students and work to create an environment where students feel seen, heard, connected, and cared for. This will empower students to share concerning behavior when they observe it.

Leadership teams intentionally implement practices, data, and systems in a way that ensures all members of the school community can meaningfully participate, experience belonging and success, and achieve valued outcomes.

Prioritize connection and belonging • Codesign schoolwide and classroom-wide expectations • SEB skill instruction for all students • Structures to support a culture of acknowledgment and appreciation • Clearly defined instructional and supportive responses to student behaviors

Moreover, both accentuate the value of supportive, trusted, caring relationships between students and staff and the importance of a safe, healthy school climate and culture.

A collaborative approach such as this serves to strengthen a positive school climate and promote student emotional and physical well-being.

Training on other topics such as suicide awareness and prevention, conflict resolution, bullying prevention, developmental disabilities, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and trauma, and mental health first aid can also support universal prevention efforts and assist school faculty, staff, and administrators with fostering positive school climates.

AWARENESS AND PREVENTION • Cultivate positive, connected, encouraging, unconditional relationships • Teach prosocial behavior • Enhanced SEB learning • Teach students how to recognize concerns in peers • Teach families how to recognize concerning behavior • Teach students and families how to report concerns as an act of caring • Bullying and harassment prevention • Suicide prevention • Mental health first aid

Through this process of regular feedback, the school safety specialists build rapport and relationships with students which helps increase engagement, decrease isolation, and promote a system for the student to proactively seek support from an adult.

The BTAM team and the MTSS/PBIS teams all play an active role in creating and sustaining a safe and positive school climate with a culture of respect, trust, and support for students’ social-emotional well-being.

Leaders from the respective teams work collaboratively with school administrators to review data from the current school climate survey. Together, they analyze data on students’ perceptions of feeling connected to the school, supported by adults in the school, their own safety at school, and their perceptions regarding order and discipline at school.

The group knows that a positive school climate is directly related to student willingness to share and report concerning and/or threatening behaviors.

Collectively, the group establishes an action plan designed to support all staff with building positive, trusting relationships with students and which outlines practices and resources that can foster an environment where students feel seen, heard, connected, and respected.

These universal supports facilitate inclusive school cultures that benefit students with disabilities.

Supporting SWD begins by establishing a strong multi-tiered system of support that promotes a culture of connectedness and belonging for all students. This culture provides the foundation for the early identification of needs and timely and effective interventions for students regardless of IDEA or 504 status.

Additonally, the team should also consider supports and services that restore or enhance the student’s sense of belonging and connection to the school community.

Such approaches that promote successful outcomes for all students can decrease the risk of harm to the school community (National Threat Assessment Center, 2021).