FLOWER VALLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
4215 Sunflower Drive
Rockville, Maryland 20850
(240)740-1780

September 12, 2019

Dear Parents,

In order to create a positive learning environment at Flower Valley Elementary School, the PEACE and Friendship Program has been developed and will continue to be implemented.  The purpose of the PEACE and Friendship Program is to identify, describe, encourage, and strengthen the behaviors that lead to peace and friendship.  We believe these skills will benefit our students for their time at FVES and throughout their lives.   Our PEACE and Friendship Program is aligned with the U.S. Department of Education’s document, Guiding Principles: A Resource Guide for Improving School Climate and Discipline, the 2019-20 MCPS Student Code of Conduct, and the MCPS Be Well 365 Initiative.

Contract

Please read and discuss the attached Flower Valley Elementary School PEACE and Friendship Program with your child. After reviewing this document, please sign as indicated below and return the document to your child’s teacher. 
 
_____________________________________________________        _____________  
Student Signature             						   Date				 
 
________________________ ____________________________        _____________  
Parent Signature             						   Date			 

We sincerely appreciate your support and look forward to working with you and your child this school year.

Sincerely,

Gay E. Melnick, Principal

PEACE and Friendship Program
Flower Valley Elementary School
2019-2020

In order to create a positive learning environment at Flower Valley Elementary School, the PEACE and Friendship Program has been developed.  The purpose of the PEACE and Friendship Program is to identify, describe, encourage, and strengthen the behaviors that lead to peace and friendship.  We believe these skills will benefit our students for their time at FVES and throughout their lives.

Philosophy 
 
We believe that the most important function of our school is learning.  Our goal is to provide a peaceful and friendly learning environment for all children who attend Flower Valley Elementary School.  The philosophy of the PEACE and Friendship Program is to strengthen behaviors that will enable each child to behave in a peaceful and friendly manner, not just at Flower Valley, but throughout his/her life.  

The PEACE and Friendship Program acknowledges the rights and responsibilities of students while informing students, staff, and parents/guardians of the expectations for peaceful and friendly behavior at school. 
  
Ground Rules
 
Follow Procedures 
Be Responsible 
Respect Ourselves and Others 
Help Others 
Always Do Our Best 
 
Flower Valley Peace Pledge 

The following Peace Pledge is recited each morning by all students at Flower Valley Elementary School:
 
“We, the students of Flower Valley Elementary School, promise to respect each other.  We will keep our hands, feet and things to ourselves.  We pledge to work out any problems that may happen with our peers in a peaceful way.”

PEACE 

Prepared, Esteemed, Accountable, Careful, Effort

Expected Behaviors:  

The following table lists expected behaviors according to our Ground Rules and PEACE and Friendship Program: 

  Classroom	
Cafeteria 	
Hallway 	
Playground 	
Bathroom 	

Enter and exit quietly	
Walk 

	Single file    facing forward 	
	Appropriate use of equipment 
	Be a good sport 	
	Clean up after     yourself 

Be ready to listen and learn	
	Ready to listen 
	Clean up after      yourself 
	
	Appreciate   displayed work 
	
	Share and include        everyone 
	Use friendly words 
	Ready to listen 
	
	Keep private 

Hands and feet to yourself	
Be prepared
Eat your own food 
	
	Have a purpose 

	Be prepared 
	Have fun 
	
	Flush and wash 
	Have a  purpose 	

Be respectful of yourself and others	
	Soft Voices 
	Hands and feet to yourself
	Stay in your seat 
	Raise your hand for help
	
	Hands and feet to yourself 

	Hands and feet to yourself 

	Quiet voices 
	Hands and feet to yourself 

Always do your best	
	 Throw away or recycle your trash

	Walk 
	Quiet voices 
	
	As soon as the warning bell rings, line up immediately. Enter the building quietly. 
	Pick up all playground equipment 
	
	Report any          inappropriate         behaviors 

 
Acknowledgements:

We believe that students will continuously demonstrate peaceful and friendly behavior if their positive behavior is acknowledged.  Three ways that we acknowledge their behavior school 
wide are through Peace Tokens, Fine Line Awards, and Firefly Fine Dining Awards. 

Peace Tokens are given out by all staff members to individual students who are respectful and friendly. After a student receives a peace token, he or she places it in his/her classroom’s peace token jar.  Every Friday morning, several names will be drawn from each classroom jar. These student’s names will be announced over the morning announcements and these students will be invited to come to the office to get a special prize from the school principal. 

Fine Line Awards are given out to classes who walk peacefully and quietly while moving from one place to another within the school building. Classroom teachers then post their “Fine Line” awards outside their individual classrooms. At the end of each marking period, three classes (K-1, 2-3, 4-5) with the most Fine Line awards, are recognized over the morning announcements, receive certificates from, and have popcorn parties with school administration.  At the same time, teachers remove their existing fine line awards and start posting new awards.

Our lunch staff give out Firefly Fine Dining Awards to students who follow the cafeteria rules.  Students then place their awards in the school’s “Fine Dining” jar.  Six student names per grade level are randomly selected at the end of each marking period and these students will be invited to participate in “Firefly Fine Dining” with school administration, which is held at special tables set up on the stage.

Office Referral:

When a student requires the support of a school administrator in order to resume peaceful and friendly behavior, the referring staff member submits an Office Referral Form.  Students then complete a Problem Solving/Incident Report Form.  School administration reviews the information submitted, meets with the student(s), communicates with the referring staff member, school counselor, and/or classroom teacher, and makes a decision about next steps.  Depending on the severity of the behavior, parents will either be contacted by school administration or a copy of the Problem Solving/Incident Report Form will be sent home for a parent signature.  Every attempt will be made to ensure that parents and involved staff are informed about office referrals.

Levels of Responses/Supportive Actions:  
 
When students display behaviors that are incompatible with the friendly and peaceful school climate, staff may take different actions. The actions/responses to students’ inappropriate behaviors will consider different variables involved (individual students’ needs, triggers, type of inappropriate behavior).  Staff members who evaluate the situation and lead the problem solving process will make decisions based on the information collected through direct observations and direct reports from other staff members and/or students. The actions taken or responses to a student’s inappropriate and/or disruptive behavior aim to support the student in learning more appropriate behavioral alternatives, while keeping all students safe and maintaining a peaceful and friendly environment. 
The following page describes different consequences/responses to students’ inappropriate and/or disruptive behaviors, organized on five levels.

Levels of Responses/ Supportive Actions
Level 1
These responses aim to teach appropriate behavior, so students are respectful, and can learn and contribute to a safe, friendly environment.	Level 2
These responses aim to teach appropriate behavior so students are respectful, and can learn and contribute to a safe, friendly environment.	
•	Classroom based responses (redirection/reminders, verbal correction, written reflection/apology, daily progress sheet, role play)
•	Restorative practices (classroom based)
•	Conference with the teacher
•	Behavior Contract
•	Referral to the school counselor
•	Parent outreach (parent contact)
•	Parent/Teacher/Counselor/Student Conference
•	Referral to health/mental health service	•	Classroom based responses (redirection/reminders, verbal correction, written reflection/apology, daily progress sheet, role play)
•	Behavior Contract
•	Parent outreach (parent contact)
•	Referral to the school counselor
•	Temporary removal from the classroom
•	Parent/Teacher/Counselor/Student Conference
•	Restorative practices (classroom based or specialist facilitated)
•	Detention
•	Removal from extracurricular activities
•	Referral to Educational Management Team (EMT)
•	Functional Behavioral Assessment
•	Restitution
•	Referral to health/mental health services	
Level 3
These responses engage the student’s support system to ensure successful learning, and to alter conditions that contribute to the student’s inappropriate or disruptive behavior. These responses aim to correct behavior, while still keeping the student in school.	Level 4
These responses address serious behaviors while keeping the student in school through transfer to another school or assignment to an alternative program.	
•	Classroom based responses (redirection/reminders, verbal correction, written reflection/apology, daily progress sheet, role play)
•	Behavior Contract
•	Parent/Guardian and Student Conference (with administrator)
•	Referral to Educational Management Team (EMT)
•	Detention
•	Removal from extracurricular activities
•	In-school suspension
•	Functional Behavioral Assessment
•	Restorative practices (classroom based or specialist facilitated)
•	Referral to health/mental health services
•	Restitution	•	Parent/Guardian and Student Conference (with administrator)
•	Formal mentoring program
•	Restitution
•	In-school suspension
•	Functional Behavioral Assessment/ Behavior Intervention Plan
•	Removal from extracurricular activities
•	Temporary removal from the classroom
•	Short term out of school suspension
•	Restorative practices (classroom based or specialist facilitated)
	
Level 5
These responses remove a student from the school environment and promote safety of the school community.	
•	Restorative justice practices (classroom -based or specialist facilitated)
•	Recommend for future action
•	Referral for alternative education
•	Referral to student support team
•	Out of school suspension
•	Expulsion	
In the event that parents disagree with the action(s) taken by the school, they can file an appeal and submit it to the school principal.