The Bulldog Brag Raffle occurs every Friday morning. Our students count on it. Just as we count on each Broad Street Elementary School student to be responsible and respectful and keep each other safe.

The Bulldog Brag Raffle recognizes big expectations for students and staff to fulfill the inclusive and considerate academic environment and ambiance at Broad Street Elementary.

Broad Street Elementary School is one of the smaller elementary schools in Nashua, serving about 250 neighborhood students in grades kindergarten through grade 5. Our school also houses about 50 district-wide preschool students enrolled in a federal-funded Title I program. Also, Broad Street Elementary is home to one of the city’s Project Achievement programs. Project Achievement serves district-wide elementary students identified as having significant social, emotional, and behavior concerns. All Broad Street School students are referred to as Bulldogs, which is the school mascot.

For a small school, Broad Street School has big expectations for its students and staff. We expect students to be safe, responsible, and respectful throughout the school day, teaching explicitly what that means in each area of the school. The expectations seem simple, but they are powerful and we reference them repeatedly throughout the day. For example, in the cafeteria, we expect students to be safe and wash their hands before eating, and then we expect them to clean their lunch tables, as responsible and respectful classmates. We also expect them to be respectful by using indoor, restaurant voices while they eat. There are similar but unique expectations for other areas of the school like bathrooms, classrooms, the hallways, and even the school busses.

The focus at Broad Street School is not on what the students should not or cannot do, but what they can and are expected to do. This small shift in language and attitude has a large impact on the climate and culture of the school. At the start of the school year, teachers teach and model the universal expectations to the students. There are lessons posted online and some contain videos featuring staff and students. For example, teachers share the Broad Street School playground expectations with every student each year before they set foot on the playground for recess. Sarah Page, a grade 4 teacher, worked with her students, colleagues, and Nashua ETV, the City’s cable television channel, to develop playground expectations and produce a professional quality video.

With consistent expectations, students know what is expected of them throughout the school day. This allows them to feel more confident, engaged, and connected to the school community. It also makes it easier for teachers to recognize positive behaviors, and to correct problem behaviors to keep small problems small. In addition, ensuring expectations and related routines are practiced school-wide reduces pressure on individual teachers to design their own behavior management systems. The consistency helps everyone know what to expect in every area of school.

A Bulldog Brag is a paper ticket. When a student or class earns a Bulldog Brag, they write their name on the ticket and place it in a red box found outside the main office. Each Friday morning, we draw tickets from the box. Students whose tickets are drawn receive public recognition and a small prize. There is no limit to how many Bulldog Brags a child or classroom can earn each week. The more often a member of the community is recognized for being safe, responsible, and respectful, the greater chance they have of winning the raffle.

Student discipline at Broad Street School is like math, reading, or any other academic area. Students experience different levels of success and those who need receive extra support. Students also make mistakes. At Broad Street School, we see a mistake as an opportunity to improve. When the school focused on rolling out its new hallway expectations, every student was taught how to walk down the hall. After two weeks of constant supervision and praise for meeting expectations, some students were not meeting expectations. We invite students to a special support session called Walking School. Students attended Walking School instead of their recess and we re-taught school expectations for hallway behavior. Students attend these skill-building sessions as many times as needed until they meet expectations. Most students only require one session.

On average, students and staff submit 150-200 Bulldog Brags each week. I pull six tickets each week and winning students come to the main lobby, where we present them with a small stuffed bulldog and photograph them with Buddy, the school mascot. Photos are shared via social media and posted on a bulletin board in the main lobby. Entire classrooms also receive Bulldog Brags and participate in a different raffle. A class may receive a Bulldog Brag from a staff member for meeting hallway expectations, being extraordinary for a guest teacher, or maybe having a day or week when every student turns in homework. Classrooms that win the raffle have a stuffed dog placed in their classroom for the week. This is very special and fun for the younger students and gives the older students a sense of pride to be recognized collectively as a whole class.

The Broad Street Leadership Team will meet later this spring to develop lessons and plans for next year. Teachers and administration will review student discipline and determine where the school has the opportunity for improvement for the upcoming school year. Due to the hard work and collaboration behind the scenes by various teams, the dedication and passion of the teachers and para-educators during the school day, and the support of the Broad Street School PTO, Broad Street School’s universal expectations are successful, and our students know how to be safe, responsible and respectful.

John Forrest is principal at Broad Street Elementary School. He may be reached at forrestj@nashua.edu.