Running Head: INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM DISCIPLINE PLAN 1

Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School Interdisciplinary Team Discipline Plan

Franciscan University of Steubenville

EDU 360

Maddie Brown, Jenna Kuebler, Kathleen Merriman, Amelia Villa, and Mary Wester

December 5, 2017

School Mission Statement: Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School strives to foster a supportive
and welcoming environment that recognizes the inherent dignity of each individual member of
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the school community and the families we serve. We seek to teach relevant content, drawn from a
research-based interdisciplinary curriculum, through high-quality instructional practices.

Below are outlined the three guiding principles of Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School

that every member of our school community is expected to follow and respect. These principles,

as well as the consequences listed below if these expectations are not met, are based on the

Cooperative Discipline model (see subheading below). Under each main rule, there are more

detailed expectations of what these rules look like more concretely within our school setting.

Further details on these expectations, as well as information on all of our school policies, may be

found under the “School Handbook” tab on our school website and is available to the public.

Three Main Rules:

1. We respect others and ourselves
a. No bullying
b. Respect all peers, faculty, and staff
c. No alcohol/drugs/self-harm
d. Respect of property

2. We take ownership of our actions and our studies.

a. Organized lockers/desks
b. Admit wrongs/apologize/keep the peace
c. Turn assignments in on time
d. Communicate with teachers/teachers communicate with parents

3. We strive for excellence every day

a. Being on time
b. Being an active participant in the classroom
c. Academic achievement
d. Follow procedures

Consequences:
1. Loss or Delay of Privileges
a. Loss/delay of recess
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b. Loss/delay of Ipad time

c. Loss/delay of activity
d. Loss/delay of access to school areas.
2. Loss of Freedom
a. Denied interactions with peers
b. Required interactions with school personnel
c. Required interactions with parents
3. Restitution: Return, Repair, Replace &/or Service
a. “You break you fix”
b. Apologize
c. Make the situation better
4. Relearning Appropriate Behaviors
a. Discussion
b. Role Play
c. Journaling

Fostering Community Within Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School

(Team Encouragement Strategies):

Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School serves roughly 400 students in grades 5-8. Our

school is divided into a House system of organization, with a heterogenous mixture of students

and a number of each students from each grade level within each of the four houses. Each Hayes’

House is named after an animal that is renowned for its physical speed: Greyhound House,

Coyote House, Cheetah House, and Elk House. Working together, the Hayes community of

students and teachers hopes to emulate the endurance of these animals as we race towards

success, as well as honor hard-working attitude of our namesake, Ohio-born president of the

United States Rutherford B. Hayes. Each Hayes’ House contains one-hundred students at one

time, with equal numbers drawn from each grade band (i.e., twenty-five students from each
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grade will belong to each house). Students will remain in the same Hayes’ House for all four

years of their middle school experience, a strategy which encourages students to build strong

community within the House in which they are placed. Within each House, each grade level

attends the same classes, but is divided into two separate advisory groups with roughly thirteen

and twelve students per advisory group. Faculty and staff facilitate Advisory Groups three times

a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) each week during the first thirty minutes of the school

day, after which students attend their regular classes. These Advisory Groups exist as the result

of much consideration, and are supported by a multitude of educational research. The Hayes’

Houses, as well as the Advisory Groups are designed with the idea of a “school-within-a-school”

concept in mind. That is, by dividing Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School into Houses, grades,

and Advisory Groups, students can feel a unique sense of belonging and importance in the group

where he or she is placed. Furthermore, it is our hope that Hayes’ students take learn to take

pride in their particular Hayes’ Houses and feel at home in their Advisory Groups, which will

engender a greater involvement in school and a feeling of pride towards the middle school as a

whole community.

In order to best support both Advising Teams and the students within Advisory Groups,

Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School integrates strategies, activities, and programs to encourage

and strengthen each group individually. Some of the programs that promote unity among

Advisory Groups, Hayes’ Houses, and the overall school in general are as follows:

● Spirit Week: Middle school students are encouraged to participate in a week-long

celebration of the characteristics that make Rutherford B. Hayes both excellent and

unique. While the week’s calendar of events may vary, activities may include a Pep Rally

on Monday, sports games, performances, Hayes Gear Day, Hayes’ House Gear Day,
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Dress Like Your Favorite President Day, performances (e.g. a school play), field trips, a

parade, and/or many other activities aimed at encouraging students to take pride not only

in their individual Hayes’ House, but also to recognize that they each play a vital role in

the Hayes Middle School community overall.

● Talent Shows: A talent show will be held each semester of the school year, in which

students within each House will be able to perform for the students within their particular

House. Those awarded with outstanding performances by a panel of judges will be able

to perform in a school-wide talent show, after which a first, second, and third place

winner will be selected. Students may choose to enter as individuals or groups.

Furthermore, students within the same Advisory may choose to also create and perform a

skit, song, dance, or other means of expression to entertain the school-wide community.

● Student of the Week: The Advisory Team within each House may collaborate to choose

a Student-of-the-Week that has demonstrated remarkable academic achievements or

magnanimity of character during the school week. Educators may choose to keep this

honor within each Advisory Group, extend it to the whole House-specific grade level, or

even, honor one student per house, per week. This recognition will motivate students to

work hard and shows teacher appreciation for the academic and behavioral efforts of a

variety of students.

● Celebration of Birthdays: In order to foster a strong sense of community and individual

importance, each Advisory Group will hold a Birthday of the Month party, in which each

person whose birthday falls within the given month will be celebrated and recognized.

Birthdays that fall during summer and winter breaks will be celebrated before the end of

the school quarter prior to that break.

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● Holiday Parties: Within Advisory Groups, there are also Holiday Parties in anticipation

of major Holidays throughout the year. These Holiday Parties provide a time for

members of the Advisory Groups to enjoy each other's’ company and participate in a

celebration to which all of the students’ families will be invited. Educators within each

House may choose to combine all grade level Advisory Groups to form one larger

Holiday Party (e.g., Cheetah House 5th Grade Christmas Party).

Overall, we hope that through this school-within-school structure that each and every

student at Rutherford B. Hayes will feel a sense of belonging and know what a valuable role each

person has in creating a strong, united school community. Through the aforementioned programs

and events throughout the school year, as well as other strategies that educators and

administrators may choose to implement, we aim to create an environment that welcomes and

encourages both teachers and students alike. Truly, these encouragement strategies strive to

honor Rutherford B. Hayes Middle School’s Mission Statement, which promises to “recognize(s)

the inherent dignity of each individual member of the school community and the families we

serve.”

Team Procedures

Hallways Students are to walk down the hall in an orderly manner.

There will be no running at any time.
Low, soft voices must be used.
No pushing, shoving, hitting, punching, or unwanted physical
contact.
Students are to keep hands and belongings to themselves.

Lockers Student lockers are used for storage of school related

materials, backpacks, coats, etc. Lockers are school property
and officials are permitted to open and inspect lockers at any
time.
Students are expected to keep lockers clean and organized.
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Students are responsible for all content in the his/her locker.

Procedures for Absentees Regular school attendance is very essential to the success of
the students academics and opens more of an opportunity to
communicate with the teachers. Poor attendance disrupts the
continuity of academic instruction. Here at Rutherford B.
Hayes we believe that a correlation exists between attendance
and achievement. Therefore students are expected to uphold
and comply to the Missing Child Law of the State of Ohio.

1. If it is necessary for your child to be absent from

school, the following expectations are to be met:
a. We ask all parents to notify the school office
each day of a student's absence by calling the
school's secretary at 432-296-3071. If the
parent or guardian does not report a child’s
absent, the school is mandated to contact the
parent/guardian regarding the child’s absence.
b. Upon returning from an absence the student is
asked to bring with him or her a note signed
from either a parent or guardian. If the absence
is sick related the student is asked to bring a
doctor's note.
c. When returning from an excused absence, its is
the responsibility of the student to arrange
make-up work with his/her teacher.

Excused Absences based on Ohio attendance laws are as

follows:
1. Illness (doctors’ excuses may be required)
2. Illness inside the immediate family
3. Death in the immediate family
4. Death outside the immediate family
5. Religious Holidays
6. Medical Appointments
7. Court Appearance

Rutherford B. Hayes understands that there is a wide variety

of reasons for a student’s absence for that each student's
absence shall be determined by the school.

Unexcused Absence

Any absence which does not meet the criteria of an excused

absence is marked as an unexcused absence.
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Reference:
http://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Data/Proving-
Ground/House-Bill-410-FAQ.pdf.aspx

Parent Conference Format:

Strong connections between school teams and parents can both positively and

dramatically change the dynamic of how a student performs in the classroom. Many teachers

have observed that as the number of parent teacher conferences increases, the student is shown to

improve in his or her overall behavior. With that being said, there is a direct connection between

the overall well being of a student and the level of parental involvement within a school setting.

At Rutherford Hayes Middle School, the parent-teacher conferences have taken a new

approach which highlights the importance of student centered learning. These student led

conferences encompass more than a general script between parents and teachers discussing their

child's strengths and weaknesses. Instead, students personally invite their guardians into the

school as they act as the facilitators. During the conferences, students are encouraged to connect

their unique interests to their future goals and academics With that being said, the students are

given a chance to examine their work and display their strongest school related assignments

along with any other accomplishments they have achieved and may want to include. The overall

goal is to give students an opportunity to reflect on their work and take ownership in all that they

do inside of the classroom.

School Community Plan:

Twice a year, the Rutherford B. Hayes students have the opportunity to team up with the

school’s staff members and local residents of Cleveland to participate in the volunteer beach
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clean-up, the “We the People Beach Sweep,” at Lake Erie. At this community event, children

and adults alike contribute their efforts to maintain a clean and uncontaminated lake for our

community. It is important that our students see the value in protecting our natural community.

Once a week, our 7th and 8th grade students will travel to our Elementary School to

partake in “Big Brothers/Big Sisters.” They will serve as mentors to our younger students by

fostering a relationship and building rapport. Students will read with one another, work on

homework, play games, and serve as role models. This teaches our RBHMS students important

life skills such as stoicism, tolerance, and understanding.

During the Christmas season we will create cards and care packages to deliver to patients

who will spending the holiday at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital. The last day before break

we will travel to the hospital to deliver our “Presents for Patients.” This will give our students the

opportunity to gain a new perspective to the challenges other children are facing. The holiday

season is the perfect time to reflect on our many blessings.

For Veterans Day, our student will write thank you notes to our local veterans. On

Veterans Day they will be invited to the school for a luncheon. Students will have the

opportunity to listen to the Veterans talk about their military stories, the hardships and struggles

they endured, and ask questions. This helps to develop respect for our elders and the selfless men

and women who risk their lives for our country. At the end of the luncheon, students will write a

reflective essay on what they gained from their time with the veterans.

Discipline and Theorists

Rutherford B Hayes’ schoolwide model for management, Cooperative Discipline, can be

viewed alongside the research findings of renowned educational psychologist, Lev Vygotsky.

Vygotsky was the first contributor to constructivism, the theory that the student is “an
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information constructor” who learns through self-led exploration and independent experimenting

(Constructivism, 2016). Constructivism shares many of the same values as Cooperative

Discipline, perhaps the most prominent being that the learning is controlled by the students, not

by the teachers (Riley, 2017). Although it is of course dire that the teacher is always present and

involved in the classroom, the students follow their own curiosity and let personal interests and

questions guide their learning. Cooperative Discipline embodies these values fully. Furthermore,

Rutherford B Hayes Middle School compels its teachers to provide the proper materials and

teaching strategies in order to enable the students to learn in the most beneficial way possible.
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References:

Constructivism. (2016, September 08). Retrieved December 04, 2017, from https://www.learning

-theories.com/constructivism.html

Riley, R. W. Consistency Management & Cooperative Discipline. Retrieved December 04,

2017, from https://www2.ed.gov/pubs/ToolsforSchools/cmcd.html