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Vista View students and staff tell Ocean View board digital PBIS rewards are boosting engagement
Summary
Vista View Middle School staff and students told the Ocean View School District board that a digital PBIS rewards platform has increased student participation, reduced behavior incidents and connected families to real‑time recognition. Trustees praised the presentations and asked about technical details including QR scans and parent access.
Vista View Middle School principal Manny Casalem and a group of teachers and students presented the board of trustees on Nov. 18 about a digital Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) rewards program the school has adopted.
"Our PBIS rewards program is a digital platform that allows the staff to recognize students for their positive behavior that are aligned to our expectations of SOAR," Casalem told the board, describing a system that scores safety, punctuality, organization, academic effort and respectful behavior. Casalem said staff now award "thousands of points for positive recognition each month," and that points are visible to families and redeemable at campus stores and school‑wide events.
Teacher Julie Lapic said the system transformed classroom dynamics, allowing quieter students to participate. "When we introduced PBIS, the students wanted to earn points. Now hands are raised all class period long," Lapic said. Several students described the program as motivating: "Recognition can change everything," one eighth grader told trustees, while another said the app helps them "set a goal to get the prizes I want." Jade Vasios, an eighth grader, said the digital points were easier to track than the paper tickets previously used.
Board members asked operational questions about how the system works. Students and staff explained teachers scan QR codes in student planners with district iPads to award or remove points, and that a student app and school Chromebooks let learners and families check point totals and teacher feedback.
Clerk Clayton Tarvin commended the home–school connection and said parents’ viewability of points was especially important. Vice President Souders and Trustee Westmoreland also praised the students’ presentation and suggested the board consider attendance or other incentives tied to the program.
The presentation concluded with board appreciation and a group photo; trustees said the student testimony served as a reminder of classroom impact when setting district priorities.
