Rewards

The Step-By-Step Guide for Building a PBIS Store

Here are a few tasks that should be considered when building a PBIS Store.

By
Charmaine Williams

Or to take it a step further, how cool would it be if we had tangible rewards for students who display positive behavior, able to take a trip to the school store after earning tickets to spend on their favorite things?  

What is PBIS?

PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. PBIS best practices promote positive behavior by explicitly teaching desired behaviors to students and reinforcing these behaviors by rewarding them.

Students are given opportunities to be proud of behavior improvements and be rewarded accordingly. Students thrive in environments where rewards are present. Although it can be frowned upon by some in higher education to have incentive-based learning techniques, this is an opportunity to invigorate student learning, especially in K12. 

It also catalyzes promoting self-initiative. Furthermore, it shifts the agency of behavioral modification on the student.

The nucleus that guides PBIS involves:

Teachers are encouraged to also use their professional discretion for rewarding students for showing positive behavior. In using discretion, teachers should be mindful to reward the “little things” especially if it showcases significant progress. 

This not only builds confidence in the student but strengthens the student/teacher bond. This process involves relational leadership and circumstantial rewards. Relational leadership tactics amongst teachers focus not only on what the student can do, but who the student is. 

How to Build a PBIS Store

Enter: the PBIS store.

Although the school reward store is an incentive to encourage positive student behavior and achievement with rewards they can shop for using points they earned under your PBIS program. Your PBIS store – and the rewards within it – are an opportunity to reflect your school culture. Therefore, it is important to understand the various dynamics that are present in each school’s unique environment. 

1. Decide who will operate the store (Students or Teachers)

This is an important component that can help “make or break” your school store. The task of opening a school store takes collaboration and organizational skills to ensure that store is running at its optimal potential. 

Consider every variable while deciding who will be in charge of the school stores’ daily operations. Who will restock? Who will serve as a cashier? Who maintains records? If students are “operations managers” this gives them the autonomy to showcase their growth, develop leadership and learn new skills.

A school store can be a major undertaking. That’s why many schools are looking at ways to incorporate leadership opportunities in the form of a student-run rewards store.

PBIS Store Example

2. Choose your currency

Students have to be able to buy the items in your reward system! That takes currency, and it can come in many forms. For example, schools often use paper bucks that include their school name, mascot, colors, and more.  

However, it is important to make this currency durable for reuse. After all, we endeavor to go green as we consider the environment.  There may also be ways to distribute tickets virtually through QR codes and compatible apps that offer customization and tracking. 

If you haven’t noticed by now, this requires teamwork and innovation amongst the school's faculty and staff.

What’s most important, however, is that this currency is coveted, yet obtainable. 

3. Location and frequency of store hours

When will your school store be open for business? The time and location are critical to the orderly success of any store. This also means careful consideration of who will manage and carry out the operations of the store, which we discussed in Step 1.

Consider a location that avoids the potential for loitering, clutter, and storage. It may not be necessary to have the store open every day of the week and certainly not all day when open. 

We’ve seen it all when it comes to location and frequency for PBIS Stores: 

4. Establish Store Expectations

If students are disrespectful, unruly, or not showing kindness during shopping days, school store leaders have the authority to ban students for a specific period in order to maintain order.

The goal of the store is to reward good behavior therefore if a student were to abuse, disrespect, or mishandle their opportunity to frequent the store, the behavior must yield consequences. 

However, it is important to remember that the focus should be given to rewarding students not disciplining them. As most schools already have more than enough disciplinary procedures in place. 

Students must clearly understand, and prove their understanding of, the guidelines, reward opportunities, and rubric for determining reward eligibility. 

It may even be wise to involve the students in some dynamics of the PBIS store planning. Students are empowered when they are given opportunities to speak for themselves, be invited to make decisions that will directly affect them, and prepare them with a unique set of social skills. 

Isn’t this why we teach? Isn’t this why we equip students? How can we teach them what it means to be a model citizen without allowing them to showcase what they have learned? 

5. Prioritize student voice

Create a survey so that the rewards in your store will garner excitement and make the incentive worthwhile. Student buy-in is a real thing and should be taken into account when building a school store.

Therefore, students' voice is essential in ensuring the success of the store that is being built. You can think of it as “market research”. Students will also feel partly responsible for the success of the school because they had a “say” in the items that are included. 

Utilizing technology and apps will be important. After all, this is a generation of digital natives. Meaning, that they are practically born understanding and depending upon technology for almost everything. There are plenty of apps that allow simple customization. 

Starting Your PBIS Store

Building a PBIS Store is laborious work that yields extraordinary results. The task of building a store will take intentionality and strategic planning. However, you will see improvement in the most challenging students and effort from those who may have lacked motivation. 

But more importantly, you will have a front-row seat to the transformation of your students and the incredible power of transformative school culture. Need more specific resources, check out our information on PBIS in Elementary Schools. Want to learn all you can possibly learn about PBIS? Check out our Complete PBIS Field Guide.

Looking for a place to start your school culture journey? Check out our free PBIS template where you can download a sample to get started.

To learn what other educators are saying take a look at our PBIS reviews. How do you unlock the full potential of PBIS? Check out our resources on harnessing the power of PBIS for your school district. Providing behavior support in today's schools requires that we address behavior problems holistically. Check out how The Dulles School of Excellence is doing just that by blending PBIS and SEL.

Find PBIS Rewards that Students Love to Earn

Explore 100+ ideas from schools like yours.

See All PBIS Rewards
Find PBIS Matrix Ideas

Explore school-wide behavior expectations from other schools.

See PBIS Matrix Ideas
Find House Points Inspiration

The best Houses reflect your school’s unique culture. Browse examples from real schools and start brainstorming your House system!

Show Me Ideas
Simplify PBIS
Say goodbye to paper.

Track behavior, motivate students, and promote a positive culture — all in one easy platform.

Learn More

Who doesn’t love being rewarded? It is the feeling of setting a goal and achieving it. The moment you make your mind up to be a winner and get something worthwhile for it.

Or to take it a step further, how cool would it be if we had tangible rewards for students who display positive behavior, able to take a trip to the school store after earning tickets to spend on their favorite things?  

What is PBIS?

PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. PBIS best practices promote positive behavior by explicitly teaching desired behaviors to students and reinforcing these behaviors by rewarding them.

Students are given opportunities to be proud of behavior improvements and be rewarded accordingly. Students thrive in environments where rewards are present. Although it can be frowned upon by some in higher education to have incentive-based learning techniques, this is an opportunity to invigorate student learning, especially in K12. 

It also catalyzes promoting self-initiative. Furthermore, it shifts the agency of behavioral modification on the student.

The nucleus that guides PBIS involves:

  • Effectively communicating acceptable behavior to all children and its benefits
  • Early-onset intervention before inappropriate behavior intensifies
  • Collaborative methods that involve research and intentionality that circumvents misbehavior
  • Tracking student growth and progress with measurable incentive-based behavioral modification tools

Teachers are encouraged to also use their professional discretion for rewarding students for showing positive behavior. In using discretion, teachers should be mindful to reward the “little things” especially if it showcases significant progress. 

This not only builds confidence in the student but strengthens the student/teacher bond. This process involves relational leadership and circumstantial rewards. Relational leadership tactics amongst teachers focus not only on what the student can do, but who the student is. 

How to Build a PBIS Store

Enter: the PBIS store.

Although the school reward store is an incentive to encourage positive student behavior and achievement with rewards they can shop for using points they earned under your PBIS program. Your PBIS store – and the rewards within it – are an opportunity to reflect your school culture. Therefore, it is important to understand the various dynamics that are present in each school’s unique environment. 

1. Decide who will operate the store (Students or Teachers)

This is an important component that can help “make or break” your school store. The task of opening a school store takes collaboration and organizational skills to ensure that store is running at its optimal potential. 

Consider every variable while deciding who will be in charge of the school stores’ daily operations. Who will restock? Who will serve as a cashier? Who maintains records? If students are “operations managers” this gives them the autonomy to showcase their growth, develop leadership and learn new skills.

A school store can be a major undertaking. That’s why many schools are looking at ways to incorporate leadership opportunities in the form of a student-run rewards store.

PBIS Store Example

2. Choose your currency

Students have to be able to buy the items in your reward system! That takes currency, and it can come in many forms. For example, schools often use paper bucks that include their school name, mascot, colors, and more.  

However, it is important to make this currency durable for reuse. After all, we endeavor to go green as we consider the environment.  There may also be ways to distribute tickets virtually through QR codes and compatible apps that offer customization and tracking. 

If you haven’t noticed by now, this requires teamwork and innovation amongst the school's faculty and staff.

What’s most important, however, is that this currency is coveted, yet obtainable. 

3. Location and frequency of store hours

When will your school store be open for business? The time and location are critical to the orderly success of any store. This also means careful consideration of who will manage and carry out the operations of the store, which we discussed in Step 1.

Consider a location that avoids the potential for loitering, clutter, and storage. It may not be necessary to have the store open every day of the week and certainly not all day when open. 

We’ve seen it all when it comes to location and frequency for PBIS Stores: 

  • A once-a-month occasion with items set up on tables in the hallway
  • A Fun Friday Recurring Event
  • An Online Marketplace
  • Daily Store where passes also have to be earned to gain access
  • A Once a Semester Event where the whole community chips in to support

4. Establish Store Expectations

If students are disrespectful, unruly, or not showing kindness during shopping days, school store leaders have the authority to ban students for a specific period in order to maintain order.

The goal of the store is to reward good behavior therefore if a student were to abuse, disrespect, or mishandle their opportunity to frequent the store, the behavior must yield consequences. 

However, it is important to remember that the focus should be given to rewarding students not disciplining them. As most schools already have more than enough disciplinary procedures in place. 

Students must clearly understand, and prove their understanding of, the guidelines, reward opportunities, and rubric for determining reward eligibility. 

It may even be wise to involve the students in some dynamics of the PBIS store planning. Students are empowered when they are given opportunities to speak for themselves, be invited to make decisions that will directly affect them, and prepare them with a unique set of social skills. 

Isn’t this why we teach? Isn’t this why we equip students? How can we teach them what it means to be a model citizen without allowing them to showcase what they have learned? 

5. Prioritize student voice

Create a survey so that the rewards in your store will garner excitement and make the incentive worthwhile. Student buy-in is a real thing and should be taken into account when building a school store.

Therefore, students' voice is essential in ensuring the success of the store that is being built. You can think of it as “market research”. Students will also feel partly responsible for the success of the school because they had a “say” in the items that are included. 

Utilizing technology and apps will be important. After all, this is a generation of digital natives. Meaning, that they are practically born understanding and depending upon technology for almost everything. There are plenty of apps that allow simple customization. 

Starting Your PBIS Store

Building a PBIS Store is laborious work that yields extraordinary results. The task of building a store will take intentionality and strategic planning. However, you will see improvement in the most challenging students and effort from those who may have lacked motivation. 

But more importantly, you will have a front-row seat to the transformation of your students and the incredible power of transformative school culture. Need more specific resources, check out our information on PBIS in Elementary Schools. Want to learn all you can possibly learn about PBIS? Check out our Complete PBIS Field Guide.

Looking for a place to start your school culture journey? Check out our free PBIS template where you can download a sample to get started.

To learn what other educators are saying take a look at our PBIS reviews. How do you unlock the full potential of PBIS? Check out our resources on harnessing the power of PBIS for your school district. Providing behavior support in today's schools requires that we address behavior problems holistically. Check out how The Dulles School of Excellence is doing just that by blending PBIS and SEL.

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Find PBIS Rewards that Students Love to Earn

Explore 100+ ideas from schools like yours.

See All PBIS Rewards
Find PBIS Matrix Ideas

Explore school-wide behavior expectations from other schools.

See PBIS Matrix Ideas
Find House Points Inspiration

The best Houses reflect your school’s unique culture. Browse examples from real schools and start brainstorming your House system!

Show Me Ideas
Simplify PBIS
Say goodbye to paper.

Track behavior, motivate students, and promote a positive culture — all in one easy platform.

Learn More

Or to take it a step further, how cool would it be if we had tangible rewards for students who display positive behavior, able to take a trip to the school store after earning tickets to spend on their favorite things?  

What is PBIS?

PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. PBIS best practices promote positive behavior by explicitly teaching desired behaviors to students and reinforcing these behaviors by rewarding them.

Students are given opportunities to be proud of behavior improvements and be rewarded accordingly. Students thrive in environments where rewards are present. Although it can be frowned upon by some in higher education to have incentive-based learning techniques, this is an opportunity to invigorate student learning, especially in K12. 

It also catalyzes promoting self-initiative. Furthermore, it shifts the agency of behavioral modification on the student.

The nucleus that guides PBIS involves:

  • Effectively communicating acceptable behavior to all children and its benefits
  • Early-onset intervention before inappropriate behavior intensifies
  • Collaborative methods that involve research and intentionality that circumvents misbehavior
  • Tracking student growth and progress with measurable incentive-based behavioral modification tools

Teachers are encouraged to also use their professional discretion for rewarding students for showing positive behavior. In using discretion, teachers should be mindful to reward the “little things” especially if it showcases significant progress. 

This not only builds confidence in the student but strengthens the student/teacher bond. This process involves relational leadership and circumstantial rewards. Relational leadership tactics amongst teachers focus not only on what the student can do, but who the student is. 

How to Build a PBIS Store

Enter: the PBIS store.

Although the school reward store is an incentive to encourage positive student behavior and achievement with rewards they can shop for using points they earned under your PBIS program. Your PBIS store – and the rewards within it – are an opportunity to reflect your school culture. Therefore, it is important to understand the various dynamics that are present in each school’s unique environment. 

1. Decide who will operate the store (Students or Teachers)

This is an important component that can help “make or break” your school store. The task of opening a school store takes collaboration and organizational skills to ensure that store is running at its optimal potential. 

Consider every variable while deciding who will be in charge of the school stores’ daily operations. Who will restock? Who will serve as a cashier? Who maintains records? If students are “operations managers” this gives them the autonomy to showcase their growth, develop leadership and learn new skills.

A school store can be a major undertaking. That’s why many schools are looking at ways to incorporate leadership opportunities in the form of a student-run rewards store.

PBIS Store Example

2. Choose your currency

Students have to be able to buy the items in your reward system! That takes currency, and it can come in many forms. For example, schools often use paper bucks that include their school name, mascot, colors, and more.  

However, it is important to make this currency durable for reuse. After all, we endeavor to go green as we consider the environment.  There may also be ways to distribute tickets virtually through QR codes and compatible apps that offer customization and tracking. 

If you haven’t noticed by now, this requires teamwork and innovation amongst the school's faculty and staff.

What’s most important, however, is that this currency is coveted, yet obtainable. 

3. Location and frequency of store hours

When will your school store be open for business? The time and location are critical to the orderly success of any store. This also means careful consideration of who will manage and carry out the operations of the store, which we discussed in Step 1.

Consider a location that avoids the potential for loitering, clutter, and storage. It may not be necessary to have the store open every day of the week and certainly not all day when open. 

We’ve seen it all when it comes to location and frequency for PBIS Stores: 

  • A once-a-month occasion with items set up on tables in the hallway
  • A Fun Friday Recurring Event
  • An Online Marketplace
  • Daily Store where passes also have to be earned to gain access
  • A Once a Semester Event where the whole community chips in to support

4. Establish Store Expectations

If students are disrespectful, unruly, or not showing kindness during shopping days, school store leaders have the authority to ban students for a specific period in order to maintain order.

The goal of the store is to reward good behavior therefore if a student were to abuse, disrespect, or mishandle their opportunity to frequent the store, the behavior must yield consequences. 

However, it is important to remember that the focus should be given to rewarding students not disciplining them. As most schools already have more than enough disciplinary procedures in place. 

Students must clearly understand, and prove their understanding of, the guidelines, reward opportunities, and rubric for determining reward eligibility. 

It may even be wise to involve the students in some dynamics of the PBIS store planning. Students are empowered when they are given opportunities to speak for themselves, be invited to make decisions that will directly affect them, and prepare them with a unique set of social skills. 

Isn’t this why we teach? Isn’t this why we equip students? How can we teach them what it means to be a model citizen without allowing them to showcase what they have learned? 

5. Prioritize student voice

Create a survey so that the rewards in your store will garner excitement and make the incentive worthwhile. Student buy-in is a real thing and should be taken into account when building a school store.

Therefore, students' voice is essential in ensuring the success of the store that is being built. You can think of it as “market research”. Students will also feel partly responsible for the success of the school because they had a “say” in the items that are included. 

Utilizing technology and apps will be important. After all, this is a generation of digital natives. Meaning, that they are practically born understanding and depending upon technology for almost everything. There are plenty of apps that allow simple customization. 

Starting Your PBIS Store

Building a PBIS Store is laborious work that yields extraordinary results. The task of building a store will take intentionality and strategic planning. However, you will see improvement in the most challenging students and effort from those who may have lacked motivation. 

But more importantly, you will have a front-row seat to the transformation of your students and the incredible power of transformative school culture. Need more specific resources, check out our information on PBIS in Elementary Schools. Want to learn all you can possibly learn about PBIS? Check out our Complete PBIS Field Guide.

Looking for a place to start your school culture journey? Check out our free PBIS template where you can download a sample to get started.

To learn what other educators are saying take a look at our PBIS reviews. How do you unlock the full potential of PBIS? Check out our resources on harnessing the power of PBIS for your school district. Providing behavior support in today's schools requires that we address behavior problems holistically. Check out how The Dulles School of Excellence is doing just that by blending PBIS and SEL.

Find PBIS Rewards that Students Love to Earn

Explore 100+ ideas from schools like yours.

See All PBIS Rewards
Find PBIS Matrix Ideas

Explore school-wide behavior expectations from other schools.

See PBIS Matrix Ideas
Find House Points Inspiration

The best Houses reflect your school’s unique culture. Browse examples from real schools and start brainstorming your House system!

Show Me Ideas
Simplify PBIS
Say goodbye to paper.

Track behavior, motivate students, and promote a positive culture — all in one easy platform.

Learn More

About the Event

Or to take it a step further, how cool would it be if we had tangible rewards for students who display positive behavior, able to take a trip to the school store after earning tickets to spend on their favorite things?  

What is PBIS?

PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. PBIS best practices promote positive behavior by explicitly teaching desired behaviors to students and reinforcing these behaviors by rewarding them.

Students are given opportunities to be proud of behavior improvements and be rewarded accordingly. Students thrive in environments where rewards are present. Although it can be frowned upon by some in higher education to have incentive-based learning techniques, this is an opportunity to invigorate student learning, especially in K12. 

It also catalyzes promoting self-initiative. Furthermore, it shifts the agency of behavioral modification on the student.

The nucleus that guides PBIS involves:

  • Effectively communicating acceptable behavior to all children and its benefits
  • Early-onset intervention before inappropriate behavior intensifies
  • Collaborative methods that involve research and intentionality that circumvents misbehavior
  • Tracking student growth and progress with measurable incentive-based behavioral modification tools

Teachers are encouraged to also use their professional discretion for rewarding students for showing positive behavior. In using discretion, teachers should be mindful to reward the “little things” especially if it showcases significant progress. 

This not only builds confidence in the student but strengthens the student/teacher bond. This process involves relational leadership and circumstantial rewards. Relational leadership tactics amongst teachers focus not only on what the student can do, but who the student is. 

How to Build a PBIS Store

Enter: the PBIS store.

Although the school reward store is an incentive to encourage positive student behavior and achievement with rewards they can shop for using points they earned under your PBIS program. Your PBIS store – and the rewards within it – are an opportunity to reflect your school culture. Therefore, it is important to understand the various dynamics that are present in each school’s unique environment. 

1. Decide who will operate the store (Students or Teachers)

This is an important component that can help “make or break” your school store. The task of opening a school store takes collaboration and organizational skills to ensure that store is running at its optimal potential. 

Consider every variable while deciding who will be in charge of the school stores’ daily operations. Who will restock? Who will serve as a cashier? Who maintains records? If students are “operations managers” this gives them the autonomy to showcase their growth, develop leadership and learn new skills.

A school store can be a major undertaking. That’s why many schools are looking at ways to incorporate leadership opportunities in the form of a student-run rewards store.

PBIS Store Example

2. Choose your currency

Students have to be able to buy the items in your reward system! That takes currency, and it can come in many forms. For example, schools often use paper bucks that include their school name, mascot, colors, and more.  

However, it is important to make this currency durable for reuse. After all, we endeavor to go green as we consider the environment.  There may also be ways to distribute tickets virtually through QR codes and compatible apps that offer customization and tracking. 

If you haven’t noticed by now, this requires teamwork and innovation amongst the school's faculty and staff.

What’s most important, however, is that this currency is coveted, yet obtainable. 

3. Location and frequency of store hours

When will your school store be open for business? The time and location are critical to the orderly success of any store. This also means careful consideration of who will manage and carry out the operations of the store, which we discussed in Step 1.

Consider a location that avoids the potential for loitering, clutter, and storage. It may not be necessary to have the store open every day of the week and certainly not all day when open. 

We’ve seen it all when it comes to location and frequency for PBIS Stores: 

  • A once-a-month occasion with items set up on tables in the hallway
  • A Fun Friday Recurring Event
  • An Online Marketplace
  • Daily Store where passes also have to be earned to gain access
  • A Once a Semester Event where the whole community chips in to support

4. Establish Store Expectations

If students are disrespectful, unruly, or not showing kindness during shopping days, school store leaders have the authority to ban students for a specific period in order to maintain order.

The goal of the store is to reward good behavior therefore if a student were to abuse, disrespect, or mishandle their opportunity to frequent the store, the behavior must yield consequences. 

However, it is important to remember that the focus should be given to rewarding students not disciplining them. As most schools already have more than enough disciplinary procedures in place. 

Students must clearly understand, and prove their understanding of, the guidelines, reward opportunities, and rubric for determining reward eligibility. 

It may even be wise to involve the students in some dynamics of the PBIS store planning. Students are empowered when they are given opportunities to speak for themselves, be invited to make decisions that will directly affect them, and prepare them with a unique set of social skills. 

Isn’t this why we teach? Isn’t this why we equip students? How can we teach them what it means to be a model citizen without allowing them to showcase what they have learned? 

5. Prioritize student voice

Create a survey so that the rewards in your store will garner excitement and make the incentive worthwhile. Student buy-in is a real thing and should be taken into account when building a school store.

Therefore, students' voice is essential in ensuring the success of the store that is being built. You can think of it as “market research”. Students will also feel partly responsible for the success of the school because they had a “say” in the items that are included. 

Utilizing technology and apps will be important. After all, this is a generation of digital natives. Meaning, that they are practically born understanding and depending upon technology for almost everything. There are plenty of apps that allow simple customization. 

Starting Your PBIS Store

Building a PBIS Store is laborious work that yields extraordinary results. The task of building a store will take intentionality and strategic planning. However, you will see improvement in the most challenging students and effort from those who may have lacked motivation. 

But more importantly, you will have a front-row seat to the transformation of your students and the incredible power of transformative school culture. Need more specific resources, check out our information on PBIS in Elementary Schools. Want to learn all you can possibly learn about PBIS? Check out our Complete PBIS Field Guide.

Looking for a place to start your school culture journey? Check out our free PBIS template where you can download a sample to get started.

To learn what other educators are saying take a look at our PBIS reviews. How do you unlock the full potential of PBIS? Check out our resources on harnessing the power of PBIS for your school district. Providing behavior support in today's schools requires that we address behavior problems holistically. Check out how The Dulles School of Excellence is doing just that by blending PBIS and SEL.

Register Now

About the Event

Or to take it a step further, how cool would it be if we had tangible rewards for students who display positive behavior, able to take a trip to the school store after earning tickets to spend on their favorite things?  

What is PBIS?

PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. PBIS best practices promote positive behavior by explicitly teaching desired behaviors to students and reinforcing these behaviors by rewarding them.

Students are given opportunities to be proud of behavior improvements and be rewarded accordingly. Students thrive in environments where rewards are present. Although it can be frowned upon by some in higher education to have incentive-based learning techniques, this is an opportunity to invigorate student learning, especially in K12. 

It also catalyzes promoting self-initiative. Furthermore, it shifts the agency of behavioral modification on the student.

The nucleus that guides PBIS involves:

  • Effectively communicating acceptable behavior to all children and its benefits
  • Early-onset intervention before inappropriate behavior intensifies
  • Collaborative methods that involve research and intentionality that circumvents misbehavior
  • Tracking student growth and progress with measurable incentive-based behavioral modification tools

Teachers are encouraged to also use their professional discretion for rewarding students for showing positive behavior. In using discretion, teachers should be mindful to reward the “little things” especially if it showcases significant progress. 

This not only builds confidence in the student but strengthens the student/teacher bond. This process involves relational leadership and circumstantial rewards. Relational leadership tactics amongst teachers focus not only on what the student can do, but who the student is. 

How to Build a PBIS Store

Enter: the PBIS store.

Although the school reward store is an incentive to encourage positive student behavior and achievement with rewards they can shop for using points they earned under your PBIS program. Your PBIS store – and the rewards within it – are an opportunity to reflect your school culture. Therefore, it is important to understand the various dynamics that are present in each school’s unique environment. 

1. Decide who will operate the store (Students or Teachers)

This is an important component that can help “make or break” your school store. The task of opening a school store takes collaboration and organizational skills to ensure that store is running at its optimal potential. 

Consider every variable while deciding who will be in charge of the school stores’ daily operations. Who will restock? Who will serve as a cashier? Who maintains records? If students are “operations managers” this gives them the autonomy to showcase their growth, develop leadership and learn new skills.

A school store can be a major undertaking. That’s why many schools are looking at ways to incorporate leadership opportunities in the form of a student-run rewards store.

PBIS Store Example

2. Choose your currency

Students have to be able to buy the items in your reward system! That takes currency, and it can come in many forms. For example, schools often use paper bucks that include their school name, mascot, colors, and more.  

However, it is important to make this currency durable for reuse. After all, we endeavor to go green as we consider the environment.  There may also be ways to distribute tickets virtually through QR codes and compatible apps that offer customization and tracking. 

If you haven’t noticed by now, this requires teamwork and innovation amongst the school's faculty and staff.

What’s most important, however, is that this currency is coveted, yet obtainable. 

3. Location and frequency of store hours

When will your school store be open for business? The time and location are critical to the orderly success of any store. This also means careful consideration of who will manage and carry out the operations of the store, which we discussed in Step 1.

Consider a location that avoids the potential for loitering, clutter, and storage. It may not be necessary to have the store open every day of the week and certainly not all day when open. 

We’ve seen it all when it comes to location and frequency for PBIS Stores: 

  • A once-a-month occasion with items set up on tables in the hallway
  • A Fun Friday Recurring Event
  • An Online Marketplace
  • Daily Store where passes also have to be earned to gain access
  • A Once a Semester Event where the whole community chips in to support

4. Establish Store Expectations

If students are disrespectful, unruly, or not showing kindness during shopping days, school store leaders have the authority to ban students for a specific period in order to maintain order.

The goal of the store is to reward good behavior therefore if a student were to abuse, disrespect, or mishandle their opportunity to frequent the store, the behavior must yield consequences. 

However, it is important to remember that the focus should be given to rewarding students not disciplining them. As most schools already have more than enough disciplinary procedures in place. 

Students must clearly understand, and prove their understanding of, the guidelines, reward opportunities, and rubric for determining reward eligibility. 

It may even be wise to involve the students in some dynamics of the PBIS store planning. Students are empowered when they are given opportunities to speak for themselves, be invited to make decisions that will directly affect them, and prepare them with a unique set of social skills. 

Isn’t this why we teach? Isn’t this why we equip students? How can we teach them what it means to be a model citizen without allowing them to showcase what they have learned? 

5. Prioritize student voice

Create a survey so that the rewards in your store will garner excitement and make the incentive worthwhile. Student buy-in is a real thing and should be taken into account when building a school store.

Therefore, students' voice is essential in ensuring the success of the store that is being built. You can think of it as “market research”. Students will also feel partly responsible for the success of the school because they had a “say” in the items that are included. 

Utilizing technology and apps will be important. After all, this is a generation of digital natives. Meaning, that they are practically born understanding and depending upon technology for almost everything. There are plenty of apps that allow simple customization. 

Starting Your PBIS Store

Building a PBIS Store is laborious work that yields extraordinary results. The task of building a store will take intentionality and strategic planning. However, you will see improvement in the most challenging students and effort from those who may have lacked motivation. 

But more importantly, you will have a front-row seat to the transformation of your students and the incredible power of transformative school culture. Need more specific resources, check out our information on PBIS in Elementary Schools. Want to learn all you can possibly learn about PBIS? Check out our Complete PBIS Field Guide.

Looking for a place to start your school culture journey? Check out our free PBIS template where you can download a sample to get started.

To learn what other educators are saying take a look at our PBIS reviews. How do you unlock the full potential of PBIS? Check out our resources on harnessing the power of PBIS for your school district. Providing behavior support in today's schools requires that we address behavior problems holistically. Check out how The Dulles School of Excellence is doing just that by blending PBIS and SEL.

About the Presenter

Charmaine is a graduate of Winston Salem State University and has a Masters Degree in Secondary Education. She is currently pursuing certification in Educational Leadership and Administration. Charmaine is a passionate English and Language Arts Educator. She leads a life dedicated to being an advocate for students and colleagues and she has over 12 years of experience in Education.


Charmaine is the founder of The Controlled Chaos Academy, which is an interactive Classroom Management Bootcamp for Educators! This program
focuses on building community through transformative learning experiences that translate into tangible academic growth!

Find PBIS Rewards that Students Love to Earn

Explore 100+ ideas from schools like yours.

See All PBIS Rewards
Find PBIS Matrix Ideas

Explore school-wide behavior expectations from other schools.

See PBIS Matrix Ideas
Find House Points Inspiration

The best Houses reflect your school’s unique culture. Browse examples from real schools and start brainstorming your House system!

Show Me Ideas
Simplify PBIS
Say goodbye to paper.

Track behavior, motivate students, and promote a positive culture — all in one easy platform.

Learn More

Who doesn’t love being rewarded? It is the feeling of setting a goal and achieving it. The moment you make your mind up to be a winner and get something worthwhile for it.

Or to take it a step further, how cool would it be if we had tangible rewards for students who display positive behavior, able to take a trip to the school store after earning tickets to spend on their favorite things?  

What is PBIS?

PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. PBIS best practices promote positive behavior by explicitly teaching desired behaviors to students and reinforcing these behaviors by rewarding them.

Students are given opportunities to be proud of behavior improvements and be rewarded accordingly. Students thrive in environments where rewards are present. Although it can be frowned upon by some in higher education to have incentive-based learning techniques, this is an opportunity to invigorate student learning, especially in K12. 

It also catalyzes promoting self-initiative. Furthermore, it shifts the agency of behavioral modification on the student.

The nucleus that guides PBIS involves:

  • Effectively communicating acceptable behavior to all children and its benefits
  • Early-onset intervention before inappropriate behavior intensifies
  • Collaborative methods that involve research and intentionality that circumvents misbehavior
  • Tracking student growth and progress with measurable incentive-based behavioral modification tools

Teachers are encouraged to also use their professional discretion for rewarding students for showing positive behavior. In using discretion, teachers should be mindful to reward the “little things” especially if it showcases significant progress. 

This not only builds confidence in the student but strengthens the student/teacher bond. This process involves relational leadership and circumstantial rewards. Relational leadership tactics amongst teachers focus not only on what the student can do, but who the student is. 

How to Build a PBIS Store

Enter: the PBIS store.

Although the school reward store is an incentive to encourage positive student behavior and achievement with rewards they can shop for using points they earned under your PBIS program. Your PBIS store – and the rewards within it – are an opportunity to reflect your school culture. Therefore, it is important to understand the various dynamics that are present in each school’s unique environment. 

1. Decide who will operate the store (Students or Teachers)

This is an important component that can help “make or break” your school store. The task of opening a school store takes collaboration and organizational skills to ensure that store is running at its optimal potential. 

Consider every variable while deciding who will be in charge of the school stores’ daily operations. Who will restock? Who will serve as a cashier? Who maintains records? If students are “operations managers” this gives them the autonomy to showcase their growth, develop leadership and learn new skills.

A school store can be a major undertaking. That’s why many schools are looking at ways to incorporate leadership opportunities in the form of a student-run rewards store.

PBIS Store Example

2. Choose your currency

Students have to be able to buy the items in your reward system! That takes currency, and it can come in many forms. For example, schools often use paper bucks that include their school name, mascot, colors, and more.  

However, it is important to make this currency durable for reuse. After all, we endeavor to go green as we consider the environment.  There may also be ways to distribute tickets virtually through QR codes and compatible apps that offer customization and tracking. 

If you haven’t noticed by now, this requires teamwork and innovation amongst the school's faculty and staff.

What’s most important, however, is that this currency is coveted, yet obtainable. 

3. Location and frequency of store hours

When will your school store be open for business? The time and location are critical to the orderly success of any store. This also means careful consideration of who will manage and carry out the operations of the store, which we discussed in Step 1.

Consider a location that avoids the potential for loitering, clutter, and storage. It may not be necessary to have the store open every day of the week and certainly not all day when open. 

We’ve seen it all when it comes to location and frequency for PBIS Stores: 

  • A once-a-month occasion with items set up on tables in the hallway
  • A Fun Friday Recurring Event
  • An Online Marketplace
  • Daily Store where passes also have to be earned to gain access
  • A Once a Semester Event where the whole community chips in to support

4. Establish Store Expectations

If students are disrespectful, unruly, or not showing kindness during shopping days, school store leaders have the authority to ban students for a specific period in order to maintain order.

The goal of the store is to reward good behavior therefore if a student were to abuse, disrespect, or mishandle their opportunity to frequent the store, the behavior must yield consequences. 

However, it is important to remember that the focus should be given to rewarding students not disciplining them. As most schools already have more than enough disciplinary procedures in place. 

Students must clearly understand, and prove their understanding of, the guidelines, reward opportunities, and rubric for determining reward eligibility. 

It may even be wise to involve the students in some dynamics of the PBIS store planning. Students are empowered when they are given opportunities to speak for themselves, be invited to make decisions that will directly affect them, and prepare them with a unique set of social skills. 

Isn’t this why we teach? Isn’t this why we equip students? How can we teach them what it means to be a model citizen without allowing them to showcase what they have learned? 

5. Prioritize student voice

Create a survey so that the rewards in your store will garner excitement and make the incentive worthwhile. Student buy-in is a real thing and should be taken into account when building a school store.

Therefore, students' voice is essential in ensuring the success of the store that is being built. You can think of it as “market research”. Students will also feel partly responsible for the success of the school because they had a “say” in the items that are included. 

Utilizing technology and apps will be important. After all, this is a generation of digital natives. Meaning, that they are practically born understanding and depending upon technology for almost everything. There are plenty of apps that allow simple customization. 

Starting Your PBIS Store

Building a PBIS Store is laborious work that yields extraordinary results. The task of building a store will take intentionality and strategic planning. However, you will see improvement in the most challenging students and effort from those who may have lacked motivation. 

But more importantly, you will have a front-row seat to the transformation of your students and the incredible power of transformative school culture. Need more specific resources, check out our information on PBIS in Elementary Schools. Want to learn all you can possibly learn about PBIS? Check out our Complete PBIS Field Guide.

Looking for a place to start your school culture journey? Check out our free PBIS template where you can download a sample to get started.

To learn what other educators are saying take a look at our PBIS reviews. How do you unlock the full potential of PBIS? Check out our resources on harnessing the power of PBIS for your school district. Providing behavior support in today's schools requires that we address behavior problems holistically. Check out how The Dulles School of Excellence is doing just that by blending PBIS and SEL.

Learn more about the author, 
Charmaine Williams
 
Find PBIS Rewards that Students Love to Earn

Explore 100+ ideas from schools like yours.

See All PBIS Rewards
Find PBIS Matrix Ideas

Explore school-wide behavior expectations from other schools.

See PBIS Matrix Ideas
Find House Points Inspiration

The best Houses reflect your school’s unique culture. Browse examples from real schools and start brainstorming your House system!

Show Me Ideas
Simplify PBIS
Say goodbye to paper.

Track behavior, motivate students, and promote a positive culture — all in one easy platform.

Learn More

Who doesn’t love being rewarded? It is the feeling of setting a goal and achieving it. The moment you make your mind up to be a winner and get something worthwhile for it.

Or to take it a step further, how cool would it be if we had tangible rewards for students who display positive behavior, able to take a trip to the school store after earning tickets to spend on their favorite things?  

What is PBIS?

PBIS stands for Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. PBIS best practices promote positive behavior by explicitly teaching desired behaviors to students and reinforcing these behaviors by rewarding them.

Students are given opportunities to be proud of behavior improvements and be rewarded accordingly. Students thrive in environments where rewards are present. Although it can be frowned upon by some in higher education to have incentive-based learning techniques, this is an opportunity to invigorate student learning, especially in K12. 

It also catalyzes promoting self-initiative. Furthermore, it shifts the agency of behavioral modification on the student.

The nucleus that guides PBIS involves:

  • Effectively communicating acceptable behavior to all children and its benefits
  • Early-onset intervention before inappropriate behavior intensifies
  • Collaborative methods that involve research and intentionality that circumvents misbehavior
  • Tracking student growth and progress with measurable incentive-based behavioral modification tools

Teachers are encouraged to also use their professional discretion for rewarding students for showing positive behavior. In using discretion, teachers should be mindful to reward the “little things” especially if it showcases significant progress. 

This not only builds confidence in the student but strengthens the student/teacher bond. This process involves relational leadership and circumstantial rewards. Relational leadership tactics amongst teachers focus not only on what the student can do, but who the student is. 

How to Build a PBIS Store

Enter: the PBIS store.

Although the school reward store is an incentive to encourage positive student behavior and achievement with rewards they can shop for using points they earned under your PBIS program. Your PBIS store – and the rewards within it – are an opportunity to reflect your school culture. Therefore, it is important to understand the various dynamics that are present in each school’s unique environment. 

1. Decide who will operate the store (Students or Teachers)

This is an important component that can help “make or break” your school store. The task of opening a school store takes collaboration and organizational skills to ensure that store is running at its optimal potential. 

Consider every variable while deciding who will be in charge of the school stores’ daily operations. Who will restock? Who will serve as a cashier? Who maintains records? If students are “operations managers” this gives them the autonomy to showcase their growth, develop leadership and learn new skills.

A school store can be a major undertaking. That’s why many schools are looking at ways to incorporate leadership opportunities in the form of a student-run rewards store.

PBIS Store Example

2. Choose your currency

Students have to be able to buy the items in your reward system! That takes currency, and it can come in many forms. For example, schools often use paper bucks that include their school name, mascot, colors, and more.  

However, it is important to make this currency durable for reuse. After all, we endeavor to go green as we consider the environment.  There may also be ways to distribute tickets virtually through QR codes and compatible apps that offer customization and tracking. 

If you haven’t noticed by now, this requires teamwork and innovation amongst the school's faculty and staff.

What’s most important, however, is that this currency is coveted, yet obtainable. 

3. Location and frequency of store hours

When will your school store be open for business? The time and location are critical to the orderly success of any store. This also means careful consideration of who will manage and carry out the operations of the store, which we discussed in Step 1.

Consider a location that avoids the potential for loitering, clutter, and storage. It may not be necessary to have the store open every day of the week and certainly not all day when open. 

We’ve seen it all when it comes to location and frequency for PBIS Stores: 

  • A once-a-month occasion with items set up on tables in the hallway
  • A Fun Friday Recurring Event
  • An Online Marketplace
  • Daily Store where passes also have to be earned to gain access
  • A Once a Semester Event where the whole community chips in to support

4. Establish Store Expectations

If students are disrespectful, unruly, or not showing kindness during shopping days, school store leaders have the authority to ban students for a specific period in order to maintain order.

The goal of the store is to reward good behavior therefore if a student were to abuse, disrespect, or mishandle their opportunity to frequent the store, the behavior must yield consequences. 

However, it is important to remember that the focus should be given to rewarding students not disciplining them. As most schools already have more than enough disciplinary procedures in place. 

Students must clearly understand, and prove their understanding of, the guidelines, reward opportunities, and rubric for determining reward eligibility. 

It may even be wise to involve the students in some dynamics of the PBIS store planning. Students are empowered when they are given opportunities to speak for themselves, be invited to make decisions that will directly affect them, and prepare them with a unique set of social skills. 

Isn’t this why we teach? Isn’t this why we equip students? How can we teach them what it means to be a model citizen without allowing them to showcase what they have learned? 

5. Prioritize student voice

Create a survey so that the rewards in your store will garner excitement and make the incentive worthwhile. Student buy-in is a real thing and should be taken into account when building a school store.

Therefore, students' voice is essential in ensuring the success of the store that is being built. You can think of it as “market research”. Students will also feel partly responsible for the success of the school because they had a “say” in the items that are included. 

Utilizing technology and apps will be important. After all, this is a generation of digital natives. Meaning, that they are practically born understanding and depending upon technology for almost everything. There are plenty of apps that allow simple customization. 

Starting Your PBIS Store

Building a PBIS Store is laborious work that yields extraordinary results. The task of building a store will take intentionality and strategic planning. However, you will see improvement in the most challenging students and effort from those who may have lacked motivation. 

But more importantly, you will have a front-row seat to the transformation of your students and the incredible power of transformative school culture. Need more specific resources, check out our information on PBIS in Elementary Schools. Want to learn all you can possibly learn about PBIS? Check out our Complete PBIS Field Guide.

Looking for a place to start your school culture journey? Check out our free PBIS template where you can download a sample to get started.

To learn what other educators are saying take a look at our PBIS reviews. How do you unlock the full potential of PBIS? Check out our resources on harnessing the power of PBIS for your school district. Providing behavior support in today's schools requires that we address behavior problems holistically. Check out how The Dulles School of Excellence is doing just that by blending PBIS and SEL.

Learn more about the author, 
Charmaine Williams
 

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