PBIS

Peacock Middle School has implemented the character education program PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports) to benefit our entire student population. Here are the key points of PBIS:

• We have three clearly defined expectations: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Proud. Every student will be taught our three expectations in multiple settings throughout our school.
• We continually self-evaluate our culture to effectively meet the social and emotional needs of all students.
• We have a curriculum in place that will discourage inappropriate behaviors and teach the expected behaviors.
• We will reduce the need to always be reactive by replacing it with a more proactive approach of teaching students our expectations first. Rather than waiting for a student to fail before we intervene, we provide the necessary supports aligned with the Social and Emotional Learning Standards (SEL).
• Research has shown that PBIS not only improves a school culture, but it will also improve academic performance.
• Students are rewarded with a Charger Check (reward ticket) for following our three expectations at school. Charger Checks can be used in many ways and teams have created reward lists for students along with the larger prize quarterly drawings done through the main office.    

On Peacock's website, you can find a link to PBIS. You will find our expectation matrix and a Home matrix of how our three expectations could be followed at home. The Home matrix is simply a reference and we encourage parents to make changes to fit their family's needs. The only constant should be our expectations of Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Proud.

As a part of PBIS, teachers have been teaching lessons to our students on how to be respectful, responsible, and proud throughout the building. We are currently putting the cool tools (lesson plans) on our website. The most recent cool tool we taught was on bullying. If you have a moment, check out the cool tools on our website and see what your child has been learning.

Athletic  & Musician Success

The 2013 6^th Grade Girls Cross country team had an amazing season overall. They put in many hours of hard work, running over 50 miles total! They also pushed themselves to improve on workouts and in races. This talented group of girls won every race that they competed in this year, and went on to dominate the conference meet. Three of the top 5 finishers at conference were from Peacock, including our very own conference champ! On behalf of Coach Crockett, Coach Larsen, and Coach Williams, congratulations on a great year!

Mr. Loest was happy to announce that four Peacock students were selected to participate in the ILMEA Honor Band after a rigorous audition process.   ILMEA stands for Illinois Music Education Association and making the ILMEA honor band is very difficult. Students receive their tryout music the preceding May, and then audition in front of a judge the following October. This year, 447 students from around the area auditioned for the honor band. Peacock Middle School had four students selected for the band.

In November, our selected students, and students from over 55 schools in DuPage and surrounding counties, will meet at Jacobs High School in Algonquin for a one-day rehearsal and performance with a nationally recognized conductor. This year's District 9 ILMEA band festival will be conducted by Indian Prairie School District 204 Coordinator for Music Education Mr. William Jastrow.