How McKinley PreK-8 Jumped from 53% to 93% PBIS Fidelity in Three Years

The McKinley Magic

White credits McKinley’s turnaround to something the staff had already built before she arrived: a deep culture of collaboration they call the McKinley Magic. The core principle is simple – everybody, every day. Every adult in the building pitches in because the entire team puts students first.

That collaborative foundation made it possible to ask teachers to take on monthly grade-level rewards without the initiative feeling like an imposition. White provides structured time during PLC meetings and grade-level meetings for teams to plan their reward events. Teachers fill out a planning document ahead of time describing what they want to do, what supplies or staffing support they need, and when they want to hold their event. White compiles the submissions into a single schedule and the day runs itself.

Despite having nine grade levels sharing the building, scheduling conflicts have been rare. Each reward day brings different energy to different parts of the school – younger students doing graffiti art on hallway posters, older students organizing their own activities – and White describes those days as her favorites of the school year: the moments when adults and students simply get to be kids together.

The Mindset Shift

The biggest barrier White encountered was not logistics but mindset. At McKinley and at previous schools, she heard the same refrain: why should I reward a student for doing something they should just do? The resistance was especially strong around middle school students, where the expectation is that a 14-year-old should already know how to behave.

White’s response reframes the question entirely. The staff at McKinley share the belief that if we don’t teach students the expected behaviors, we cannot expect them to perform any better. Academics are important, but teachers at McKinley see themselves as teaching children – not just content. A math teacher is not just a math teacher. They teach students to be productive, to navigate struggle, and to develop regulation strategies they may not be learning anywhere else.

White pairs that philosophical shift with practical transparency. She communicates clearly why the school tracks certain data, why monitoring matters, and what the long-term payoff looks like. Staff see monthly discipline reports, have access to pull their own grade-level data at any time, and receive a weekly update called the Magic Memo every Monday with all current data points, important dates, and deadlines.

She also takes a deliberately non-judgmental approach to accountability. When usage dips or a practice is not going well, White leans into curiosity rather than criticism. As she describes it, curiosity comes with care and accountability, while judgment creates an unsafe environment. That stance has helped teachers feel comfortable raising barriers – missing resources, gaps in training, or confusion about expectations – rather than staying silent.

Student Voice and the Sold-Out Store

McKinley’s reward system is built around student input. When the school store started losing its appeal, the team pushed out surveys letting students choose what they wanted to see on the cart. Teachers who run the store created a digital catalog – an online form where students browse the monthly inventory and submit orders based on their point balances.

The surveys offer a mix of existing favorites and new options the school can realistically provide, including free experiences. One reward became so popular that the school had to pull it from the store: Morning Announcements with Me. White does the morning announcements daily, and first and second graders bought out every available slot. She ended the year with a stack of unredeemed tickets because there were not enough school days left to honor them all.

Beyond the store, McKinley hosts schoolwide quarterly events tied to the reward system. In November, the entire school – including middle schoolers – watches Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and each grade level holds its own Thanksgiving meal. Some teams go all out with turkey and mashed potatoes; others keep it simple with popcorn and a movie. The end-of-year MayDay celebration features bounce houses, a dunk tank, and a partnership with a local Rita’s Italian Ice for VIP students who earned recognition through state testing.

Students Teaching Students

The clearest sign that McKinley’s culture has shifted is what happens when new students enroll. The school experienced a surge of enrollments – gaining 20 to 30 new students in some months, the highest influx in the district. White initially planned to lean on her student ambassadors, a leadership group of sixth through eighth graders, to help orient the newcomers.

What she observed instead was that the broader student body had internalized the expectations without prompting. White recalls walking through seventh and eighth grade lunch and hearing students tell new classmates unprompted: this is McKinley, we don’t do that here. When a teacher asks you to do something, you do it. We show our teachers respect. The students were not parroting rules – they were explaining a culture they felt ownership over.

The cross-grade connections run deep as well. Seventh and eighth graders regularly partner with the youngest students in the building, reading books in K–2 classrooms, joining recess, and integrating into centers and station time. Those interactions reinforce the idea that McKinley is one community, not nine isolated grade levels sharing a building.

Leading with Authenticity

White traces her leadership evolution to a question she was asked during a certification course: if we walked into your building and asked your staff what Ashley values the most, what would they say? At the time, working in a different building right after the pandemic, she was not confident her staff could answer. That moment became a turning point in how she shows up as a leader.

At McKinley, White and her principal operate as servant leaders. They conduct dual walkthroughs and coaching sessions together, each bringing a different lens – White from an elementary background, her principal from a high school one. White models lessons in PBIS, demonstrates how to run a morning SEL activity, and shows teachers how to teach behavioral expectations in different settings around the building.

At the end of every school year, White asks her staff directly: how did I do? She solicits honest feedback on what she did well and where she needs to improve, acknowledging that her own perception may not match reality. That vulnerability has reinforced the trust that drives McKinley’s culture – staff see that the person asking them to be transparent about their practice is willing to be transparent about her own.

White’s billboard message for every assistant principal in the country captures the philosophy she brings to work each day: never count out or discredit the amazing possibility that innately lies in children. We just have to find a way to tap into it, expand it, and let it radiate.