PBIS and RAMS Way

OUR VISION

We strive to create an inclusive, safe, and challenging learning environment where students are responsible, accountable, mindful and supportive.  At Ralston we treat each other with respect.

Click to view our RAMS Behavior Matrix!

ABOUT PBIS AND RAMS WAY

PBIS at Ralston is part of a nationally recognized framework that improves school climate and increases school safety.

PBIS at Ralston began with a small group of teachers meeting to discuss what could be done about bullying on campus in response to some serious incidents that had occurred. This Anti-Bully Committee started in November 2002, at which time  training took place with Jeffrey Sprague, PBIS founder.  Anti-Bully transitioned into PBIS in 2012-2013.

The PBIS team identified four overarching behavior expectations for students - Be Responsible, Accountable, Mindful, and Supportive (RAMS) - and developed a matrix of what these behaviors look like in different locations around the school.  This information is disseminated to all staff, students, and families over the course of each school year, reaching 100% of our stakeholder population.

The PBIS team includes teachers, administrators, counselors, school psychologists, district office representatives, and parents and meets monthly.  Additionally, there is a student cohort called Upstanders Club.

The team sponsors events, such as Not in Our Schools Week and National Day of Silence, and has collaborated with Student Government to create meaningful activities for students. We have created various opportunities for students to take a stand against bullying and help them feel like a valued member of their school community.

Outreach includes 100% of the student population along with their families as well as all Ralston faculty and staff.

COMMITTED TO ENDING BULLYING

Bullying and harassment stand in the way of our vision.  Therefore, our school has adopted the No Bully system for preventing and responding to harassment and bullying.

Our school does not tolerate bullying or harassment for any reason.  You are breaking the law if you harass anyone at our school.  It is a serious breach of the school rules if a student takes revenge or asks someone to threaten or hurt a student that has reported bullying or harassment. 

WHAT IS BULLYING?

Bullying occurs when a student or group of students repeatedly tries to hurt, humiliate, or get power over another less powerful student in any of the following ways:

• Physical bullying

• Verbal bullying

• Cyberbullying, and

• Relational bullying (when a student excludes or isolates another student through leaving them out, manipulating others against them, or spreading gossip or rumors)

Bullying may at times amount to harassment.  It is harassment to target a student online or face to face because of their actual or perceived disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or because they are associating with a student or group of students with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics.

Bullying is different from conflict.  Conflict is a disagreement or argument between two or more parties with equal power balances.

HOW STUDENTS CAN HELP END BULLYING

Bullying and harassment cause pain and distress to students and are never justified or excusable as “just teasing” or “just playing.”  When a student stands by doing nothing, or laughs or posts comments online when others bully, they are participating in bullying.

Students are expected to:

• Value student differences and treat others with respect both online and face-to-face.

• Ask bullying students to stop when they or others are the target of bullying.

• If I cannot safely stop the bullying, to walk away and seek help from any trusted adult on campus.

• Never take revenge or ask someone to hurt a student that has reported bullying.

SOLUTION TEAMS AND LEVELS OF INTERVENTION

Level 1 – Prevent & Interrupt

• If a narent or guardian knows or suspects that their child is being harassed or bullied, encourage your student to ask the bullying to stop or to seek help from any trusted adult on campus.  If this does not solve the situation, contact an Administrator, Counselor, or complete an incident report online as soon as possible. 

• Parent volunteers who perceive student bullying shall ask respectfully students to stop and notify an Administrator or Counselor of their intervention.

• If any teacher or staff member witnesses an act of harassment or bullying, he or she shall take immediate steps to intervene and redirect students provided it is safe to do so.

Level 2 – Check in with target of bullying and notify Counselor and Administrator

• If any staff member knows or suspects that a student is the target of ongoing bullying or harassment (i.e. it has happened more than once and is likely to continue), he or she shall check in separately with the target and the bullying student(s) as soon as reasonably possible.  If this appears to be ongoing bullying or harassment, he or she shall notify Administration or a counselor using an incident report form within 24 hours.

Level 3 – Solution Team, Progressive Discipline and other responses

Our school takes a problem-solving approach to bullying.  We have staff members trained as Solution Coaches to bring together a Solution Team of students and ask them to end bullying situations.

• If a Solution Team is appropriate, Administration will ask a Solution Coach to meet with target and offer to convene a Solution Team to bring the bullying to an end.

  • A Solution Team consists of about eight students and includes bullying students, bystanders, and students who are positive role models. The target is not part of the team. The Solution Coach records progress using a Solution Team Log and shall report progress to the principal.

• If additional discipline is appropriate, Administration will meet separately with the target and the bullying student, and involve their parents and teachers when determining consequences.

Level 4 – Implement an Empathy-Building Action Plan

If a pattern of harassment or prejudice is apparent across an entire class or grade, the Solution Coach and other relevant school staff implement a plan to teach respect for differences and create a supportive peer culture.