With an understanding that all people need to be treated with dignity

and respect, Profile School subscribes to the Positive Behavior Intervention and Supports (PBIS) model of discipline and behavior, and uses a progressive discipline model. Minor, first time incidents are handled on the lowest level, with a conversation with the student and perhaps a phone call home, progressing through administrative referrals, detentions, in-school suspension (for short duration or full-day), and suspension. An official expulsion has not happened since 2005. The Profile administration and staff work diligently to identify the root causes of behaviors, address these issues with students and/or families, and initiate interventions before concerns manifest into incidents. Initial referrals are generally made to the Child Study team, which establishes action plans for all students at risk. While all efforts are made to help a student reach success at Profile, students for whom Profile has proven unsuccessful are given a variety of options, including but not limited to the North Country Charter Academy, tutoring, the Virtual Learning Charter Academy (online) Charter School, or out of district placement.

The 2008-2009 school year marked many changes to Profile School, including Principal Mike Kelley stepping up to the role of principal from nine years as assistant principal, and bringing on board a new administrator, Assistant Principal Courtney Vashaw-Piper. Many veteran teachers also retired, making way for five new teachers. With such change always comes a period of flux for disciplinary data- what people report, how they report, and how the administration, students, and families respond.  

As part of improving the overall school climate, and thus reducing disciplinary incidents, we have tried a variety of tactics. First and foremost, the administration worked from the beginning to encourage an open door, open communication policy. Any parent, student, or community member can drop by or call at any time to bring forward ideas and concerns. This has been widely and well received. Beginning in 2008, the administration began holding monthly Parent Roundtable meetings to address topics of parent and/or community concern. That year, we also held Student Roundtables after school in the first semester, and began doing all-school Community Meetings about once a month.

In 2009-10, we continued with the Parent Roundtables and began looking for more ways we could bring students together. We increased the number of Community Meetings, initiated student recognition initiatives, and encouraged students to do presentations and announcements. An ad hoc group of student leaders from NHS, Friends of Rachel (FOR), and Student Council assembled in the late winter and met through the spring to address issues of intolerance, culminating in a fantastic all-community presentation and advisory break-out. Some of these students went on to do Project Sticker Shock, an anti-underage drinking campaign. We decided at that point to make this group a little more official and to get them some training.   We wrote for and were awarded a $10,000 grant through the North Country Health Consortium to send three students to NH Teen Institute for training, to do an all-day training for all 30 students in August at the Copper Cannon Camp, and then for supplies and programming for the year.  

In 2010-2011, we had weekly community meetings followed by a mixed grade Advisory at least once a month. We have discussed a variety of topics from the new bullying law to how to improve school lunch. The Student Leadership VOICES (Value Our Input, Connect Every Student), which is comprised of any interested student, plays a large role in planning these and the advisories. We also wrote for and received another grant, this time for over $12,000, to bring NH Teen Institute to Profile for an all high-school Challenge Day, and to send up to 10 students for training in the summer of 2011.  

The 2011-2012 school has seen an expansion of the role of Student Leadership as we restructure our Student Council. Any interested student is able to attend meetings on Fridays during the school day, which rotate through the course blocks so as to not affect any class more than once a quarter. Students have taken on a number of initiatives, including highly successful fundraising for cancer awareness and other charities, Winter Carnival, and Alcohol Awareness Week.  

Profile uses the SWIS data system to track trends in our behavioral data.

Since 2008, we have seen a significant decline of more than 40% in the number of average daily behavioral incidents and overall behavioral problems. Historically and today, our primary behavioral problem is student tardiness, which accounts for 50% of all referrals every year. The decrease includes significantly fewer incidents of tardiness and defiance/disrespect, our second greatest area of concern. We also gathered data using the MyVoice survey and the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. From these we learned that, over the course of these two years, we have seen a 5% increase in the number of students who feel accepted at school for who they are, (74% total), a 14% increase in the number of students who feel like they have a voice in the decision making process of their school (60%) total. From the substance abuse perspective, we saw a 9.3% decrease in last 30 day consumption of alcohol, down to 40.3% in 2011. 

We cannot say definitively if this decline in behavior incidents or the increase in positive indicators is due to one particular factor, but it is likely that the open communication, increased student participation, training, and voice, and concerted effort to make this part of our school culture have all contributed. The support of North Country Health Consortium has been integral to making it all happen.

Middle School Youth Leadership Conference 2012

Youth insight, energy as well as youth led initiatives are invaluable to changing substance use behavior here in the North Country.  Engaging youth in substance abuse prevention efforts has been a major focus of the North Country Community Substance Abuse Program for several years. The program began its Youth Leadership Project (YLP) initiative in 2008. The focus of the YLP has been to engage North Country students in youth empowerment and youth development through regional conferences, trainings and environmental prevention activities in order to empower youth to become the driving force that creates positive change among their peers as well as in their respective communities.

In 2010, nine North Country middle and high schools were incorporated into a network of youth by North Country Prevention Network Coordinator, Bob Thompson, known as the Prevention Youth Councils (PYC). The PYCs in turn cultivate and coordinate health and wellness promotion activities in their schools and communities. The PYCs have a youth led advisory council, also known as the North Country Regional PYC, in which representatives from each North Country PYC participate in bi-weekly meetings in order to network and coordinate activities on a regional-level and are advised by Sean O'Brien, Lin-Wood School Student Assistance Program Coordinator.

Conference attendees pictured above creating new "Buyer Beware" sticker designs for the Buyer Beware Sticker Shock Sticker Design Contest.

To further serve the youth of the North Country, the Regional PYC has been heavily involved in planning and coordinating youth leadership development conferences for their middle and high school peers. The most recent Middle School Youth Leadership Conference was held at the Appalachian Mountain Club (AMC) Highland Center from April 5th-April 7th. The theme for the conference was "Improving School Climate."

Many of the workshops were presented by the Regional PYC members,

further fostering positive relationships amongst the youth of the region. Some of the workshop topics were Bullying Prevention, Youth Leadership Through Adventure, Physical Wellness (e.g. Zumba, Rugby, and Yoga), School Spirit, Social Survival, Crossing the Line, and other beneficial workshops for students experiencing many bouts of transition during their middle school years.

Dr. Malcolm Smith, keynote, speaks to conference attendies about "Understanding Bullying."

The benefits for attendees are vast. The relationships and bonds formed among students from all over the region further creates a sense of community for students in rural Northern New Hampshire. Students gain resiliency skills that will help them to navigate the teen years and become leaders in their schools, communities, and ultimately leaders of their own lives.

The Middle School Youth Leadership Conference was another success that can be attributed to the hard work and dedication of the Regional PYC members as well as their Advisor, Sean O'Brien.

For more facts on "The Heart Truth," please visit: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/educational/hearttruth/downloads/pdf/factsheet-actionplan.pdf  

To view "The Heart Truth" website, please visit:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/educational/hearttruth/  

For information regarding activities taking place in the North Country around "The Heart Truth" Campaign, please contact Francine Morgan, AHEC Program Coordinator, at FMorgan@nchcnh.org or call (603) 259-3700 ext. 232.  

All are welcome to attend! For more information regarding the Coos County Coalition or the Littleton ATOD Task Force, please contact Diana Gibbs at 259-3700 or at dgibbs@nchcnh.org.