— from Lorena Stankevich —

On Wednesday, Mar. 22 Orcas Island Elementary School held the first ever PBIS Parent night, thanks to a generous grant from the Orcas Island Education Foundation. PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Intervention Supports and is a program that has been happening at OIES for the last several years.

A team of staff meet monthly to look at data related to school culture and student behavior. Then this team helps guide the school in the next steps. The steps focus on identifying what to be specifically taught, modeled, practiced and reinforced. The focus of this first parent night was to provide an overview of PBIS at school and assist parents with steps to implement these ideas at home.

After the over view, parents were able to choose three out of seven mini-sessions to attend. Mini-sessions focused on the following topics: playing with your kids, choices and chores, the joy of reading, essential parenting tips, playing games with your kids, making technology count, essentials for pre schoolers, and it’s all sensory.

A special thanks to the Fun House for assisting with childcare. If you are interested in attending a parent night in the future contact Lorena Stankevich at Orcas Island Elementary School, 376-2286.