New school policies make Airport ELITE

This year, Mr. Coleman and the staff at Airport High School created the new ELITE policies in order to have more stability and control over the student body at Airport, especially with cell phone issues. Yet with ELITE, the faculty also wanted to give students enough freedom to have a good time and be rewarded with things such as longer lunch periods. With the ELITE system currently ongoing here at Airport, things seem to be going well and the students are well behaved, but some students feel indifferent towards the brand new policies and feel like they're being treated as if they are still in middle school.

The start of a fresh new school year ushered in a brand new principal, Mr. Coleman. Since the very first day of school students had already noticed that Mr. Coleman acted more confident with his ELITE brand than the last principal of Airport did with the rules that he had tried to enforce. The ELITE policies seem like they are going to be very consistent and here to stay, which is refreshing since every other day it seemed another rule was added and/or removed in the school years prior to this one.

Coleman generally seems to be very well-liked among the student and teacher population, and so far nothing has changed within the school rules. The consistency with his policy appeals to students and teachers alike. The longer lunch and fixed E Block times are well enjoyed too.

“I enjoy a consistent school year,” says Nosay O. , a senior at AHS. Nosay O. also states that “Mr. Coleman is better” than his last principal was, in the sense that he stays more consistent. When asked how ELITE has changed his school year so far, Nosay says, “It has made lunch more enjoyable,” because of the longer lunch period. Although he enjoys the new and improved lunch schedule, he also makes the claim that he feels indifferent about the ELITE system.

The faculty and staff of Airport High School didn't just create the ELITE standard out of thin air. They drew inspiration from different sources. Probably the biggest source that was used to help form ELITE is an education system called PBIS, or Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. Apparently PBIS is a very well used framework to create guidelines for something like the ELITE policies. It is basically used to make a representative school leadership team, that works well with the whole school; the staff, students, and administrators. The main idea behind all of it is to get 4 PBIS Elements used with the framework. Those include systems that support staff behavior, practices that support student behavior, data that supports decision making skills, and the outcomes supporting social competence and academic achievements.

When the interview with Nosay was coming to a close, he also added an additional comment for it. He was asked if he had any advice that he could give to any new students at Airport High School. He promptly responded, “Watch yo back fool!” May that wise advice guide any of you newcomers. Follow that advice and stay ELITE Airport!