DESCRIPTIONS OF CONSEQUENCES

The following is an explanation of interventions frequently employed at Mt. Ararat Middle School.

CLASSROOM CONSEQUENCE

Classroom consequences are designed by individual teachers and teaching teams. These result directly from Classroom Codes of Cooperation, which are created by teachers and students at the onset of each school year. Classroom consequences vary by team and may include discussion with the child, strategic seating assignments, loss of a privilege, lunch with the teacher, written apology, written reflection, mediation with peer, referral to school counselor, etc. If you have questions about the Classroom Code of Cooperation, please contact your child’s homeroom teacher or advisor.

POSITIVE BEHAVIORAL SUPPORT PLAN

Generally developed with the team and/or school counselor, a Positive Behavior Support Plan can help identify areas of difficulty for the student and put structures into place that promote the student making better decisions. We welcome parental involvement in the development of these plans! Should a plan become necessary, the teacher or school counselor will reach out to set up a meeting.

REFLECT & REPAIR

For established infractions, a teacher may assign a student time to Reflect & Repair. Because the relationship between a teacher and a student is vitally important, this intervention exists not only to hold a student accountable to school rules, but also to provide an opportunity for the teacher and student to reflect upon the situation, to plan for different outcomes going forward, and to repair the harm done to the teacher/student relationship. Reflect & Repair times are scheduled by the teacher, and may occur before or after school, during a student’s free time, or any other time arranged between the student and the teacher.

LOSS OF PRIVILEGE

At times the natural consequence to a behavior will involve a student’s limitation or loss of a particular privilege (e.g. access to laptop, ability to socialize with peers during lunch/motor break, use of a student locker, etc.) for a specific period of time. For classroom-managed behaviors, a teacher (or team) may limit a student’s access to a privilege. For office-managed behaviors, an administrator may assign the loss of a privilege. Typically, the student will regain the privilege after a stated period of time. For more severe violations, it is possible to lose access to a privilege indefinitely.

RESTORATIVE SERVICE

For certain infractions where specific harm has come to the classroom, building, or shared community space, a student may be asked to perform some amount of restorative service. Examples of restorative service assigned include but are not limited to custodial support, nurse’s office assistance, food service preparation, and technology support. Restorative service is supervised by school staff after-school hours. Following restorative service, students may ride the late bus home or be picked up by a parent.

OFFICE DETENTION

If previous interventions have failed to correct the inappropriate behavior, then a student may be assigned to an office detention.

Morning office detentions occur daily in the Main Office from 7:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Students must be dropped off by a parent in order to serve this consequence. Afternoon office detentions occur on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Students may be picked up by a parent at 3:30 p.m. or may be supervised in the school cafeteria until the late bus pickup at 4:20 p.m.

During an office detention, students may work quietly, read, or draw. They will not have access to their laptops or other electronic devices during this time.

ALTERNATIVE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT

For more serious offenses, students may be assigned to an alternative learning environment for part or all of a school day. Teachers will have the opportunity to check in with the student and to provide work for him/her to complete in the alternative environment. Typically, lunch and motor break will occur in the alternative learning environment. Laptop access will be restricted. Students will be asked to print out what they need at the beginning of the day.

SUSPENSION

Suspension is the most serious consequence that a school administrator can assign to a student. Suspensions will be reserved for the highest level of behavioral infractions and can range in duration from part of a school day up to ten school days per infraction. Student laptops will remain at school during suspensions. However, textbooks and paper copies of schoolwork can be sent home, in order to help the student keep current with his/her work.

MAINE YOUTH COURT

When a student’s behavioral infraction is in violation of a law, a referral may be made to the Maine Youth Court, an organization that uses a restorative approach to holding student offenders accountable through dispositions assigned by a panel of their peers. At the discretion of the administrator, suspension time may be reduced if a student opts to participate in the Maine Youth Court. For more information on the Maine Youth Court, please visit www.maineyouthcourt.org.