UHCS continued to see steady improvement in student character and discipline in 2010-2011. With a strong school culture firmly in place, the school sought to make more effective communication of values, incentives for positive behavior, and consequences for negative behavior. In addition to morning community meetings, the school established staircases to character, scholarship, and leadership that featured pictures and biographies of key leaders and role models to communicate values. In terms of incentives for positive behavior, the school established a student store where they could use “scholar dollars” they earned for good behavior on school supplies. To address negative behavior, the Principal and teachers work closely with parents to make sure consequences at home were aligned with consequences at school.

As a result of these efforts, the school continued to report a low number of incidents that required reporting to the state’s Electronic Violence and Vandalism Reporting System (EVVRS). A summary comparing last year with this year is provided below:

Reporting to Electronic Violence and Vandalism Reporting System (2009-2010 vs. 2010-2011)

While there was a 50% increase in the number of incidents, it comes off a very small base (8 in 2009-2010 vs 12 in 2010-2011) and the school population grew by 12%. Overall University Heights Charter School remained a peaceful school where students solved the vast majority of issues non-violently.

Over the course of the school year, UHCS tracked student discipline using the weekly “Scholar Dollar Paycheck.” Students in grades 2-4 start each week with 50 scholar dollars (10 dollars for each day). They gain dollars for positive behavior and lose dollars for disruptive negative behavior. This is reported centrally and tracked week by week by student, by class, and by grade, allowing the school to praise positive trends and address negative trends as they occur.