Emotional and Behavior Support Program

Burke School represents Fairfax County 's most supportive middle school program for students with emotional disabilities. Our educational program is supplemented by a variety of resources to support our students' emotional and behavioral needs. Due to the intensity and range of our students' needs it is often difficult for them to successfully engage in learning opportunities. Clinical, guidance, and crisis resource professionals work together to provide a multidisciplinary support network. Our goal is to support students and their teachers as they develop strategies and skills that will help them become positive community members.

Community Behavior Standards Program

(Daily Vouchers and Level System)

The Daily Voucher:

One of our goals here at Burke Center is to support students in developing the strategies they will need to become positive community members. One way that we help students learn new skills is by giving them a daily point sheet, which we call a voucher. All of our students are "citizens" within the school community. As citizens they are expected to achieve certain standards for community behavior. There are some standards that are constant throughout the entire school community, for example: our safety standard is that every citizen (students and staff) in the community is expected to act in a manner that promotes an emotionally and physically safe environment for all. We also have a school-wide standard for respect. Everyone in the community is expected to treat other people and their property with respect. There is also an expectation that all the members of the Burke School community are here to learn. Thus, everyone has a be prepared/productive standard on his or her daily voucher. This means that we expect all students to engage in classroom activities, asking for and accepting help when they need it.

How to Earn Points:

Students earn points each period by demonstrating that they have met the standards listed on their voucher. They can earn 0, 5, or 10 points for each standard on their voucher. 10 indicates that the student achieved the given standard independently, 5 means that the student met the standard with support from staff (in the form of redirection or warnings), and 0 indicates that the student did not demonstrate that standard during the class period. Students who spend part or all of the school day in an alternative instructional arrangement due to difficulties meeting the community behavior standards, can earn up to half of their points for each period by demonstrating success in that environment.

Staff members mark student vouchers each period and at the end of the day students total their points and record them on a personal tracking sheet entitled "How am I doing?" Students are responsible for maintaining this data electronically on a spreadsheet. Teachers are responsible for verifying the accuracy of the students' data recording and maintaining a master copy of each student's points and current level. Every Friday students will total the number of points they have earned for the week and enter this number into the school store ledger. The points can be used to buy or rent things from the school store or to participate in special activities.

Bonus Points:

Sometimes students do things that go above and beyond the behavior standards on their voucher. When students show that they are setting even higher expectations for themselves, they are acting as role models for other students. Staff members can let kids know that they are making positive contributions to the community by giving them bonus points. Bonus points are recorded on the back of the voucher and can be spent in the school store just like regular points, but they don't affect student's levels. Bonus points cannot be used to replace points that have been lost on the front of the voucher.

Warnings:

Sometimes students have a hard time meeting the standards that are listed on their vouchers. That is to be expected, if the standards were easy to achieve then they wouldn't need to be on the voucher. Staff members are here to support the students as they learn new skills and strategies that will make meeting these standards easier. One way that we support students as they are learning is with verbal reminders or warnings. If a staff member sees a student doing or saying something that is not helping them achieve their behavioral standards, they may give the student a warning. Students can show that they are trying to manage their behavior independently by listening to the warning.

Time Out:

Sometimes children need to get away from the group for a few minutes to calm down or think about how they can manage their behavior better. We call that a Time-out. When a student is not able to regain self-control within the classroom setting, sometimes a time-out can help. Time-outs usually take place in a quiet place outside of the classroom. Time-outs generally last 5 minutes but the exact length depends on the individual student and situation. A staff member will supervise the time-out and decide when a student is ready to rejoin the group activity. Students are also allowed to request voluntary time-outs without any point penalty. As long as this privilege is not being abused, staff members encourage students to use this as an independent coping strategy. If a student is not able to use the five-minute time-out to regain self-control the staff member may extend the time out to 10 minutes. If this happens, the staff member will usually also request a processing conference after the time-out is completed to discuss the issue with the student.

Additional Staff Support:

When a student is not able to use a time-out or processing conference to resolve his/her issue, the staff member involved may call support staff for a consult. Depending upon the student's needs, CRC, guidance, or clinical staff members may be contacted to support both the teacher and the student.