How Schools Can Build Systems That Address the Root Causes of Behavior - Rebekah de Peo-Christner & Amy Lawrence

·23 min·2 clips

A student spent from third to ninth grade repeatedly in disciplinary placement, forcing educators to break the cycle.

Host John Norlin welcomes Rebekah de Peo-Christner, Assistant Director of Counseling, and Amy Lawrence, Director of Counseling and Social Work, from Denton ISD. They begin by sharing relational strategies, including a secret signal technique from Dr. DeRay and the 2x10 method of spending two minutes daily with a student for ten days. The conversation centers on the WRAP program, which stands for Wilson Restorative Action Plan, designed to wrap around students and families. WRAP addresses exclusionary discipline by improving communication, conflict resolution, and mental health support. The hosts explain that WRAP allows administrators to use it in lieu of or to lessen discipline placements. They describe participating in a 10-month executive learning community with the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, where they dove into exclusionary discipline, brain science, and solution-focused strategies. A pivotal moment occurred when an area superintendent recognized a former elementary student in high school discipline data, highlighting the need to humanize data. This led to the creation of the SHIFT program for administrators, which involved reading books like 'What Happened to You' and 'Beyond Behaviors' and developing action plans to address discipline. The program saw administrators applying techniques with their own children, indicating a paradigm shift. WRAP has expanded from two high schools to all four comprehensive high schools, nine middle schools, and some elementary campuses in Denton ISD. Parent feedback shows 92% find it new or useful and 95% believe they can use the information moving forward. The hosts emphasize that this work is slow and requires building community, encapsulated in the word 'Ubuntu', meaning 'I am because we are'. They conclude by reminding listeners that behavior is communication and to approach it with curiosity rather than judgment.

As heard by us

A grounded episode on seeing the student behind discipline data and rethinking how schools respond to behavior.

School discipline is framed here as a matter of systems, recognition, and the adults willing to look again. Denton ISD counseling leaders Rebecca DePeo-Christner and Amy Lawrence discuss a 10-month executive learning community with the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute,…

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You want school discipline to account for the student behind the data.

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