Students and staff at Easton High School are working hard to create a positive campus culture that will help students meet their academic goals. Staff knows that one of the ways to close the achievement gap is to provide a positive school culture for all students. That’s why they’ve made some intentional changes, hoping to support students as they work towards graduation.
Among the changes made to campus this year are the increased use of the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) model which emphasizes rewarding students for positive choices as a way to teach them about good decision-making. “The students requested school T-shirts as a way of showing school pride,” stated Learning Director, Grant Thor. “We use incentives like supervised visits to athletic events and T-shirts to encourage students to stay on track both academically and behaviorally.” Students have responded positively to the incentive based program.
Washington Unified’s alternative education programs are designed to meet the needs of students who may be at-risk or who might not succeed in a traditional school setting. Programs like Easton High School and ELM High School are available for students to complete high school graduation requirements. Both programs offer small class sizes, individual instruction, and college and career counseling support.
Thor has also boosted the school’s social media presence with his Twitter hashtag “TodayAtWUSDalted.” Each post highlights something positive that happened at the school, such as a student meeting a credit requirement or helping another student. Thor wants to make sure that the community knows about the good things that are happening in Washington Unified’s alternative education programs.