Bullying Prevention Plan

Referral Process and School Policy

Referral Process and School Policy for responding to incidents of bullying:

• School staff that witness or receive reports of bullying will appropriately intervene and document the incident
• A discovery process will take place with individually, with all parties involved (target, bystanders and student(s) acting aggressively.)
• Teachers and other staff who are involved with the students will be notified to help monitor and prevent further bullying situations.
• Families of students involved will be notified of the incident and of the outcomes, which pertain to their child.

Disciplinary Process

Disciplinary steps to incidents of bullying:

• Consistent response and consequences for students who act aggressively and for bystanders, who do not report, when appropriate per APS District Policy and APS Student Behavior Handbook.
• Provide classroom guidance curriculum regarding the expected behaviors of the school or classroom, possible consequences for inappropriate behavior, and the school procedure to report incidents of bullying.
• Offer support services to both target and student who is acting aggressively which are available through the school counselor or administrator.
• Administrator is available to meet with the target and parents about what would help them feel safer at school.

School Bullying Prevention and Social-Emotional Learning

Teaching social-emotional skills and behaviors are associated with success in college, career, and citizenship.

Social-emotional skills are equally important as teaching rigorous content and learning strategies. At Seven Bar, we emphasize these skills and behaviors through school wide initiatives, classroom instruction, and social-emotional behavior interventions for improving behavior and school climate.

School-Wide Initiatives

School wide initiatives are introduced to students and reinforced through assemblies, daily announcements, and posters around the school.

S.K.R. at Seven Bar

All expectations for behavior fall under “S.K.R.” Safety, Kindness, Respect (& Responsibility).

No Bullying Pledge

We will not bully others. We will try to help students who are bullied. We will include students who are easily left out. When we know somebody is being bullied, we will tell an adult at school and at home.

Bucket Filling

Be A Bucket Filler, Not A Bucket Dipper

Each of us has an invisible bucket. It is constantly emptied or filled, depending on what others say or do to us. When our bucket is full, we feel great. When it is empty, we feel awful. Each of us has an invisible dipper. When we use that dipper to fill other people’s buckets by saying or doing things to increase their positive emotions, we also fill our own bucket. But when we use that dipper to dip from others’ buckets by saying or doing things that decrease positive emotions, we diminish ourselves.

Keep Your Lid On

Our buckets have lids. People that are hurting inside will often say things that are mean and can hurt others. Keeping your own lid on means learning not to listen or to believe the hurtful things that are said to us. If you believed all the people who called you names or made fun of you, your bucket would always be empty. Don’t let anyone empty your bucket. Keep your lid on and keep on.

Classroom Instruction

Students are encouraged to exercise mindfulness in all situations.

• Self-awareness—accurately assessing one’s feelings, interests, values, and strengths/abilities, and maintaining a well-grounded sense of self-confidence
• Self-management—regulating one’s emotions to handle stress, control impulses, and persevere in overcoming obstacles; setting personal and academic goals and then monitoring one’s progress toward achieving them; and expressing emotions constructively
• Social awareness—taking the perspective of and empathizing with others; recognizing and appreciating individual and group similarities and differences; identifying and following societal standards of conduct; and recognizing and using family, school, and community resources
• Relationship skills—establishing and maintaining healthy and rewarding relationships based on cooperation; resisting inappropriate social pressure; preventing, managing, and resolving interpersonal conflict; and seeking help when needed.
• Responsible decision-making—making decisions based on consideration of ethical standards, safety concerns, appropriate standards of conduct, respect for others, and likely consequences of various actions; applying decision-making skills to academic and social situations; and contributing to the well-being of one’s school and community.
• Focus & Self Control—Focusing is more than just paying attention. True focus means being alert and engaged and knowing where to direct your attention in spite of distractions. When you switch your attention from one situation to another, follow a new set of rules, or adjust your priorities as things change, you are using cognitive flexibility. This means controlling your impulses and doing or saying what is appropriate in the situation.
• Perspective Taking—Understanding that other people have different likes, dislikes, intentions, thoughts, and feelings than one does. Putting aside our own perspective so that we can understand the viewpoints of others and thus express ourselves and be heard.
• Taking on Challenges—Being resilient in the face of stress, trying new experiences, being proactive in standing up to difficulties and persevering through challenges.

Facts of Living

Protecting the positive thoughts and feelings in your bucket is not always easy. It will help if you are aware of some of the major disappointments in life that happen to everyone at some time in their lives.These are the things we just have to expect and accept:

1. Some people will be your good friends and some will not.
2. Sometimes even good friends and family will let you down. Sometimes, you will let them down, also.
3. Sometimes you’ll win, and sometimes you’ll lose.
4. Some people you like won’t like you back.
5. Sometimes you’ll work hard and not get a good grade and sometimes you’ll work hard and not get a good grade.
6. Some people will judge you even before they get to know you.
7. Some people will say or do things that hurt you very much.
8. Some things in life are just not fair.
9. No one gets to choose the body or the talents they are born with, only what they do with them.
10. Everyone makes mistakes.

Behavior Intervention

The goal of behavior intervention is to develop effective interventions to address problematic behavior and help the student learn and develop pro-social behavior and skills. Behavior is examined to determine the cause, consequences, nature of the behavior, and scaffold learning. Students may be referred to the school counselor, Student Assistance Team, School Health and Wellness Team, Student Assistant Team, School Safety Team, or IEP team (for students w/disabilities.)

Contracts

A student commits to more positive behavior in the form of a written contract. Terms of the contract will be determined by the principal or designee. Student may be assigned school or community service. Students may be taken to a long-term suspension hearing for contract violation. Contract violations will result in continuing progressive discipline up to and including long term suspension.

Health and Wellness Team (H/WT) helps reduce students’ barriers to learning and provide integrated health/mental health supports to students and their families. Parents or staff members may make referrals. The H/WT is comprised of school counselors, school nurses, teacher, other appropriate Albuquerque Public Schools staff when needed, and Administrators when able. Health and

Wellness Team works in a collaborative manner with parents to provide consultation and resources to one another, identify and assess student referrals, determine intervention plans, and monitor student progress and program outcomes.

A Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) and Behavior Intervention Plan (BIP) may be used to identify and address behaviors that are impeding education.

Student Safety Team (SST) may convene to address concerns regarding threats and to make informed decisions on how to manage threats and ensure safety of all students and staff. Each school’s SST may include members of the Health and Wellness Team, an administrator, and staff member who has information about the student. Situations that may warrant conducting a SST meeting include verbal and/or physical threats to do harm, threats of use or involvement with weapons or explosives, and any other concerns to be determined at the discretion of the administrator.

Student Assistance Team (SAT) The purpose of this team is to meet, discuss and generate interventions for students who are presented with Academic, Behavior, Health or Attendance difficulties that are impeding their success in school. The SAT process is defined and conducted in a "standard" consultation format and involves a team of staff members asking questions that help to define the problem (data collection), collecting comprehensive background (and baseline) data, setting objectives (goals) for student outcomes with specific interventions and how to monitor the progress of interventions for 4-6 weeks. Then a follow up meeting is conducted to review the success of the interventions. If goals are not met, interventions are modified (and monitored further) or new goals are selected.