🚨Unsafe Behavior Policy (handbook)
EP Unsafe & Disruptive Behavior Cheat Sheet.pdf
Note: This section of the handbook was amended on 8/28/24 to include behavior Disruptive to the Learning Environment.
At Early Partners, our approach to behavior management reflects an understanding that the role of early childhood educators is often to teach social skills, behavior, self-regulation/control, etc… Hurting others is never ok. As early childhood educators, our role is to help children learn to navigate the world safely, for both themselves and those around them. The intention of our policy on Unsafe Behaviors is to provide clarity for all parties involved. We hope that this will empower teachers and parents, in support of helping all children to thrive in a safe environment at school. The clarity in these policies is not a substitute for good judgement, knowledge of child development, or knowledge of specific children and families.
We define Unsafe Behaviors as those that do harm to self or others, including but not limited to: hitting, scratching, kicking, pushing, throwing objects, biting, etc…. We acknowledge that there is a distinction between levels of behaviors and that some behaviors are developmentally appropriate depending on the age and stage of the child.
We define behavior that is Disruptive to the Learning Environment as persistent behavior such as screaming, running, or eloping, that prohibits other children from learning for an extended period of time.
Levels of Incidents
Teacher judgement will be involved in determining the level of incident based on the context of the child, age, environment, etc… Generally speaking, Toddlers (age 1-2) are still building skills of self-regulation, while Preschool-PreK age children (3-5) have more consistent impulse control.
Level 2+ Incidents will be logged in Brightwheel as “Incident” and made transparent to families.
Behavior Ladder for Unsafe or Disruptive Behaviors
When Unsafe or Disruptive Behaviors occur in the classroom, EP teachers follow these protocols during one block of time in the classroom (typically marked by a transition to another part of the day such as snack or outside time). The cycle resets during the next major block of time.
Parent Communication Following Major Incidents Involving Conflict Between Children
EP staff will default to confidentiality for all parties. However, we will offer the opportunity to families to disclose identities to connect with the other family. The Assistant Director, Executive Director, or Director of Student Success can facilitate a meeting between families if requested. We ask that parents refrain from reaching out to other families to resolve issues between children without the aid of EP staff, unless there is already an established relationship and foundation of trust between adults.
When unsafe or disruptive incidents occur, we want to ensure that we have a clear dataset of the behaviors in order to make plans, communicate with parents, and inform future interventions.