How Hutchinson Elementary Reduced Suspensions by 40% with PBIS and Monthly Teacher Coaching

Dodgeball, Pie in the Face, and Zero-Cost Engagement

Hutchinson’s reward system runs primarily on point goal incentives – time-bound challenges where students earn a set number of points within a defined period to qualify for an experience. The approach lets students keep their points while still working toward something, unlike a store where spending depletes their balance.

The experiences are intentionally low-cost. Monthly dodgeball sessions run by Long and the PE coach cost nothing beyond the dodgeballs the school already owns. Quality time with a favorite teacher – 20 or 30 minutes away from academics – is another popular incentive that requires zero budget. Long emphasizes that schools don’t need significant funds to keep students engaged; sometimes the simplest activities generate the most excitement.

The school also runs pie-in-the-face events three times a year, tied to academic motivation around state testing. When Long first introduced the idea, only six or seven teachers volunteered. Now the sign-up list is full. Long led by example, taking a pie to the face herself in the early years. The events have become a fixture of Hutchinson’s culture, and the tradition of adults being willing to be silly for their students sends a message that extends well beyond a single afternoon.

Ninety Minutes of Culture on Day One

Each school year, Long dedicates 90 minutes of pre-service professional development exclusively to culture and climate. This isn’t a brief overview – it’s a structured session where teachers review schoolwide behavior expectations, set up their classroom management systems, begin designing their reward stores, and receive hands-on training with LiveSchool.

The PD doesn’t assume returning teachers remember everything from last year. Long scripts the behavior lessons that teachers will use to explicitly teach expectations to students, ensuring consistency across every classroom. She provides templates for classroom behavior management that teachers personalize, including slides for their classroom reward stores with point buckets already configured in LiveSchool.

The approach reflects Long’s core belief about implementation: whatever you expect, you have to inspect. She treats culture and PBIS as an initiative that deserves the same monthly PD cadence as instruction. If a school dedicates professional learning time to math and reading every month, the same investment should go toward the systems that make learning possible in the first place.

Monthly Reflections and One-on-One Coaching

Every month, teachers participate in a structured reflection tied to their LiveSchool data. They examine their insights dashboard, identify one area of strength and one area for growth, and document next steps. For most teachers, the consistent growth area has been classroom store implementation – finding the time and rhythm to open stores regularly.

Long keeps these reflections visible without making them punitive. Teachers know their data will be reviewed, but the tone is supportive rather than disciplinary. The goal is to keep PBIS at the forefront of teachers’ minds so it doesn’t drift to the background behind competing priorities.

This year, Long added a new component: midyear one-on-one conferences. During January’s midyear review period, she met individually with each teacher for about 15 minutes to discuss their classroom management and LiveSchool usage. The individual meetings ensured that no teacher could hide inside the whole-group reflection format. The conversations surfaced insights that group sessions never would, and teachers appreciated the personal attention.

Long also holds herself accountable to the same standards. She sets a personal point-giving goal alongside her teachers, and if she misses it, her name doesn’t appear on the celebration list. The transparency signals that the system applies to administrators and teachers equally.

Suspensions Down, Proficiency Up

The data at Hutchinson tells a clear story of steady improvement. The school’s suspension rate dropped from 10% in the 2021–22 school year to 6% – a 40% reduction. More significantly, out-of-school suspension shifted from being the number-one intervention to number three, replaced by teacher interventions and alternatives to suspension at the top of the list.

Academic outcomes moved alongside behavior. Hutchinson saw an 8% increase in proficiency rates across math and reading, with a 4% increase in science scores. Long sees these as connected: when behavior improves and students spend more time in class engaged with instruction, academic gains follow naturally.

The LiveSchool insights data also revealed patterns the team hadn’t expected. One of the school’s classroom expectations – complete the task first time given – showed high point-giving and high demerit rates simultaneously. Long used the data to have honest conversations with teachers about student engagement: if students are sometimes completing tasks willingly and sometimes not, the variable is likely the engagement level of the lesson itself, not the student’s behavior.

Advice for Schools Starting Out

Long offers direct guidance for schools considering a similar implementation. First, have your schoolwide behavior expectations locked in before launching LiveSchool. The tool and the framework are connected – points acknowledge students for meeting expectations, which means those expectations need to be clearly defined and explicitly taught through scripted lesson plans that ensure consistency across classrooms.

Second, consider piloting with a single grade level or grade band rather than going schoolwide immediately. Hutchinson’s spring pilot with intermediate students created demand from primary teachers who saw what they were missing, which made the full rollout feel anticipated rather than imposed.

Third, plan for growth to take years, not weeks. Hutchinson is entering its fourth year with LiveSchool, and Long is still refining the approach. Consistency is the hardest part, and teachers need ongoing support and accountability to maintain momentum. Each year the team learns something new – this year it was adding small house competitions throughout the year to complement the big end-of-year event, keeping student engagement steady rather than front-loaded.

Finally, Long addresses the bribery concern head-on. She tells her teachers that if they feel like LiveSchool is bribing kids to behave, something in their implementation needs to change. Adults like being acknowledged for doing well, and students deserve the same recognition. The point system isn’t about paying kids to be good – it’s about making sure the school notices when they are.