Behavior Program
The High Point behavioral program is an intensive, proven-effective behavior modification system designed specifically for students with significant and complex academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs.
This system is driven by the concept of positive reinforcement, informed by leading research in the fields of behavioral science and behavior modification, designed to minimize classroom disruptions and maximize learning time, and modeled and motivated by the students themselves.
To generate the shift from self-defeating to self-promoting decision making in our students, we first and foremost ensure a safe, structured environment in which students experience unceasing support, unlimited patience, and unwavering care and compassion. Once students feel safe and secure in a therapeutic atmosphere that promotes their success and encourages their achievement, they learn to rely on the consistency of daily routines and practices—knowing precisely what is expected of them, understanding classroom norms, and being able to depend upon a predictable cause-and-effect relationship between desirable behaviors/rewards and undesirable behaviors/consequences. As part of this positive cycle of appropriate behavioral development, the staff sets and honors attainable growth-stimulating expectations, then scaffolds supports toward mastery and independence.
Positive Reinforcement in Practice
High Point employs two primary means of implementing our multifaceted behavior program:
- Positive Behavioral Support System: an activities-based, student-driven mode of incentivization that rewards students for meeting their performance goals with privileges they value (like additional gym time, field trips, time on computer devices).
- Peer-Modeled Positive Culture: a class-wide culture that the students sustain and foster themselves, with an emphasis on authentic accountability in a restorative community.
The end goal of the behavioral arm of our model is of course to increase the incidence of pro-social behaviors and decrease the incidence of inappropriate and unacceptable behaviors. Much more than that, however, High Point students learn how to manage themselves, respect themselves and others, and take accountability for their own lives—lifelong skills and lessons that extend far beyond the walls of our school and enrich their personal development exponentially.