Key questions to consider when examining your Whole School Approach:

• How well does the school provide a welcoming and supportive environment for all students?

• How successful is the school in welcoming the families of all students into the school community?

• How are resources used to support student engagement (student organizations, clubs and teams) so that all students see themselves as valued members of the school community?

• How are students provided with opportunities for social emotional learning? How are they learning empathy?

• How does the school actively support and encourage diversity in student government?

• How does the school provide regularly scheduled opportunities for students, especially those who are not elected to student government, to share ideas, identify concerns and strategies for improved school culture and climate with the principal/school leaders?

• How well has the school formed relationships with various community health and mental health agencies to which they can refer students and/or their families?

• What kinds of programs and initiatives does the school implement to promote respect for diversity?

• How are students, the largest group of stakeholders in the school community, actively involved in promoting a positive school culture in which all students feel safe and respected?

• How does the school celebrate and recognize students’ successes, progress and achievement so that all students see themselves as valued members of the school community?

• How well do all adult members of the school community model respect for diversity in their interactions with one another and with students and their families?

• How does the school integrate respect for diversity into the curriculum?

• How well does the school library collection (books, periodicals, multimedia resources) and visual displays throughout the building promote respect for diversity?

• How well does the school promote diversity in the recruitment and training of students who serve as peer mediators in the school’s peer mediation center?

• How well does the school regularly engage parents in the life of the school?

• How well has the school created connections with community based organizations, including faith based organizations, that provide support and/or programs for students and their families?

• How often does the school review, and amend as necessary, its safety and security procedures to ensure that all areas to which students have access are well monitored and supervised, including stairwells, hallways, locker rooms and other athletic facilities, outside play areas, cafeteria, auditorium, etc.?

• How does the school communicate to staff and students its clear expectations regarding pro-social behavior and respect within the school community?

• What are the school’s behavioral expectations for students and staff, and how well do they address the responsibility of the school to ensure a safe and supportive environment for all students?

• When students do not live up to behavioral expectations, how does the school ensure equitable access to supports and disciplinary accountability?

• When disciplinary data is regularly reviewed, how does the school bring multiple perspectives/multiple disciplines into the discussion?

• If a student or group of students engages in inappropriate behavior toward another student or group of students, how does the school address the behavior so that it does not become a pervasive or persistent pattern and so that the individual student or group of students does not have reason to believe that such behavior is likely to continue?

• If a student or group of students engages in discriminatory behavior toward a student or group of students based on the student’s (or group of students’) actual or perceived identity, how does the school address the behavior so that it does not become a pervasive or persistent pattern and so that the student (or group of students) does not have reason to believe that such behavior is likely to continue?

• How well does the school engage students in progressive disciplinary interventions such as peer mediation and restorative approaches?