Soundview has adopted a school-wide program, Positive Discipline. This helps us in our efforts to raise self-regulating citizens who treat others with respect and civility. Authored by Jane Nelsen and reflecting psychological principles articulated in the work of Alfred Adler, the program believes that everyone wants to feel connected, wants to be recognized, and wants to feel heard.

Traditionally “discipline” has involved rewards and, most particularly, punishment. In a Positive Discipline environment, the focus is on solutions that are reasonable, related to the concern, respectful of everyone involved, and helpful in the effort to redirect poor choices to pro-social choices. In the end, it is all about creating a safe and caring school environment, one in which risk-taking, critical thinking, and other attributes of the International Baccalaureate (IB) Learner Profile can grow and develop. To learn more about the IB, please click on the "IB Program" link under the "Academics" tab.

Current parents of preschool and 1st grade students said this about their experience:

"As our children moved into their next phase of development, we found our parent toolbox wearing thin. Soundview School's implementation of Positive Discipline and a timely class offering at the Dale Turner YMCA led us to explore PD. PD helped us see the problems with traditional methods of "discipline" and their unintended consequences. We've started implementing PD at home with welcome and "positive" changes to how we interact as a family. The class was well worth our time and we highly recommend it to other parents."

To learn more about Positive Discipline, visit the national Positive Discipline website and the site for the local Positive Discipline group:
http://www.positivediscipline.com (National)
http://www.sounddiscipline.org (Local)

Positive Discipline matters and it is truly impacting us as we strive to build a healthy and civil community through this citizenship education program.