Starr’s Mill is going a step beyond a “thank you” in recognizing students who display desired behavior. 

The Positive Behaviors Interventions and Supports program is a national program integrated throughout Starr’s Mill that works to promote a positive school environment. Students and faculty alike are encouraged to demonstrate the values of respect, accountability, and responsibility. 

“The small things— they don’t go unnoticed … [T]hey just sometimes fly under the radar,” nutrition, food and science teacher Adriah Williams said. ”The little behaviors — being respectful, being responsible, being accountable — those terms were picked by the faculty [as] the values they felt embody Starr’s Mill and what we’re all about here.”

The 2020-2021 school year is the third year Starr’s Mill has participated in P.B.I.S. 

Anyone at Starr’s Mill whose actions are respectful, accountable, or responsible has the ability to get recognized. Faculty and staff are able to nominate each other by filling out a form, describing how their colleague has demonstrated the PBIS values. As for students, staff can recognize them through a nomination or a “caught ya.” 

Each month, faculty and staff elect one nominated teacher, underclassman, and upperclassman to be recognized for that month. Any student who receives a “caught ya” is entered into a raffle to win a T-shirt. 

“More than anything else I think what people want is just to be recognized,” Williams said. “[We want] to let them know that [their] behavior, no matter how small, [m]akes a difference.”

Every student who receives a “caught ya” will have a star representing their actions on the “Wall of Stars” in the 800 hallway.