“Effective Schoolwide Discipline” (E.S.D.) is an initiative of the Virginia Department of Education and has changed the way teachers view discipline at the school. T.E.S. is entering its fourth year in the E.S.D. program.

A school mascot, the Rockfish, has been adopted to assist in teaching positive expectations, with the acronym R-O-C-K-F-I-S-H:

R eally
O utstanding
C aring
K ids who are
F riendly,
I ntelligent,
S uccessful, and
H elpful.

They Rock!

Once teachers are sure students know the schoolwide expectations of behavior, they begin acknowledging students who are displaying this behavior. Students are given verbal praise and told what they are doing right. They may also be presented with a “fish chip” which allows their name to be read on the morning announcements and earns points towards prizes and incentive programs. Students receiving a specified number of fish chips each semester are invited to attend a special event.

To help them become more productive members of society as they get older, students are also taught character traits( See the Monthly Rockfish Character Traits page): responsibility, respect, honesty, choices, empathy, friendship, courtesy, perseverance, integrity, and pride. One character trait is the focus each month.

This program does not eliminate consequences for students choosing to show negative behaviors, but it shifts the focus more to reinforcing positive behaviors. However, when students make poor choices, time is always taken to teach students a more positive way of handling the situation for future occasions.