2025-2026 

 

 

 

 

School Climate Plan

Most recent update August 20,  2025

 

Our motto expresses our vision and provides guidance between 

our mission and our school expectations or core values

 (which are practical but not visionary)

The goal of a motto is to stretch us from where we are now 

to a sense of belonging, love and joy for every student.

 

What Is School Climate?

School Climate Overview

School Climate encompasses culturally relevant Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), restorative practices and schoolwide social-emotional learning opportunities for all students in their classrooms.  Racial equity and social justice is woven into all aspects of school climate to ensure that all students feel a sense of belonging and have a positive school experience. 

Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

School climate is an essential component of the Multi-Tiered System of Support (MTSS) framework.  MTSS is a proactive, data-driven practice used at Portland Public Schools to support all students. It uses evidence-based instruction, intervention and assessment practices to ensure that every student receives the appropriate level of support based on their level of need.  Within an MTSS structure, all students receive sustaining Tier I universal supports. Additional supports are provided for students that need them through Tier II interventions (targeted group supports), and Tier III interventions (individualized supports). These tiered academic and behavioral interventions help eliminate barriers to learning and enable every student to successfully reach their full potential.

Schoolwide Values and Common Area Expectations

Our School’s Core Values are 

1.  Safe

2.  Respectful

3.  Responsible

We have updated our core values in the following year in collaboration with students, staff, families and community input. Posters are distributed throughout the building in order to make them visible to students, staff and families. The intention is to send a consistent message about what our school community values and  how it looks different in various common areas. This will help Arleta ensure that our core values are inclusive and affirming. 

Students need to understand and exercise our core values on a regular basis to master the skills to be successful and prepared to be college and career ready. All adults acknowledge and reinforce these core values  when interacting with students. 

Our core values are woven into our regular teaching practices in every lesson and in every class period throughout the grade levels. Staff name them consistently and strategically teach and review our core values  throughout the school year.

Common Area Expectations

 

Teaching Common Area Expectations

All students are taught the common area expectations at least three times a year after long breaks. 

Arleta common area expectations lessons

 

Schoolwide (Tier 1) Climate Practices

Each Arleta student deserves to come to school and feel seen, safe and valued.  In order to make this happen, adults across the school intentionally support all students by implementing the following: 

• A warm greeting by name each morning
• Classroom Community Agreements
• Community Circles
• Praise, Sun Buck, Dolphin to acknowledge expected behavior
• School counselor classroom lessons
• Social Emotional Learning classroom lessons
• Common Area Expectation lessons three times per year
• Calming spaces in each classroom
• Flexible seating
• Think Sheets to help reflect on behavior

Student Intervention Team:  Additional Behavior & Academic Supports (Tier II and Tier III)

When Tier 1 classroom and schoolwide supports are not enough to ensure student success, students may be brought to the school Student Intervention Team (SIT) to develop and implement Tier II and III interventions. 

 

The Student Intervention Team (SIT) is a collaborative, general education solution-generating team made up of a variety of school perspectives. The purpose of the SIT is to 

• support teachers in reflecting on and enhancing their Tier I practices and

• implement targeted Tier II and III behavior and Tier III academic interventions when needed.

Utilizing an equity lens, the team considers the whole student when making decisions that affect their long-term educational experience and sense of belonging in PPS. SIT works to provide every student and adult what they need to thrive in the general education setting. Families are notified about student strengths and challenges, as well as planned interventions, at all points in the process.

 

Personal electronic devices:  

In alignment with the new PPS board policy, students must keep personal electronic devices off and away throughout the school day.  This includes cell phones, tablets, smart watches, and similar devices.  This is reflected in our school’s behavior matrix and discipline flowchart, linked below.

Behavior Definition And Discipline Practices

Behavior level calibration will be conducted by school staff in order to properly reflect the evolving needs of our community and to accommodate the diverse racial, cultural, linguistic and developmental needs of our school.

Defining Behaviors

Arleta School Behavior Matrix 25-26 (Tech)

Arleta staff has also been using  Arleta Discipline Flow Chart to calibrate around and describe how staff respond to unexpected behaviors. If a student is escalated such that the flowchart does not meet their needs, they may utilize the school's de-escalation space. De-escalation spaces are a predesignated space in the school, not the classroom, for students to de-escalate with adult support.

Purpose of All Student Behavior Responses:  

De-escalate, Resolve, Restore, Re-teach, Return to Learning

 

Effective Classroom Practices Plan

Every teacher will have an Effective Classroom Practices Plan (ECP Plan). ECP Plans will be shared with administration no later than the day before back to school night.  Co-creating classroom practices reduces variability between classrooms and makes it more consistent for students.  Our plans are provided below and professional development time will be provided in the first two weeks of school to complete these documents.

The Effective Classroom Practices Plan template, covers the essential features of effective classroom practices: Structure, teaching expectations, acknowledging positive behaviors, and supporting regulation & restorative practices.

Folder with all teachers’ Effective Classroom Practices Plans

Link to Arleta’s school-wide Guest Teacher Support System

 

Feedback and Acknowledgement Systems

Research shows that when staff observe and acknowledge students exhibiting appropriate behaviors, those behaviors will increase and misbehaviors will decrease. Specific praise is extremely important in increasing the recurrence of appropriate behaviors. When observing appropriate behaviors in the common areas/ classrooms/ buses, all staff acknowledge classes  exhibiting our core values verbally and by handing out a dolphin card, along with specific praise. 

 

Description of our school-wide acknowledgement system:

• Dolphins - earned by whole classes meeting  common expectations
• Any staff member can award a dolphin to classes they see meeting expectations
• Classrooms that earn 20 dolphins choose a classroom celebration
• As we learn more about Caring Schools Communities we will plan some whole school events to celebrate our citizenship

Family Involvement & Feedback

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Data That Informs Our Climate Plan

Culturally Responsive Tiered Fidelity Inventory (CR-TFI) guides the action planning for the implementation of a positive school climate and connects directly with this School Climate Plan.

• The assessment component is completed once a year as a summative assessment. Twice additionally as formative assessments (conducted in September, January and/or May) 
• The CR-TFI is utilized by school teams to assess and plan implementation of all three tiers. The Climate Team is responsible for tier 1 and A score of 80% or better indicates a well-implemented tier
• The TFI action plan is revisited on a monthly basis

Recent TFI scores & Climate Plan

• Arleta 24-25 CR-TFI Action Plan
• CASEL 3 Signature Practices 
• Current RJ Rubric
• Continuous Improvement Plan 25-26 (SCIP)

Successful Schools Survey (SSS)

• Completed once a year in November by all students (grades 3-12), staff, and families.
• Reviewed by the School Climate Team and shared with staff, students and families. Used to monitor and adjust climate initiatives.
• Accessed via the Panorama dashboard. 
• PDF of data - trying to link 24-25 SSS