First day for Logan: follow the rules

This morning at Logan Elementary School in Philadelphia, second-grade teacher Jeneen Crawford was reviewing the rules for good behavior when visiting the bathroom.

"Do not scream out the window," one student said, getting a nod of approval from Crawford. "Do not go on the floor," said another. "Don't pee out the window," said a third.

"Oh, God. I hope you all know not to do that," Crawford said with a smile, as she looked over her new class of 24 students sitting at clusters of desks.

The students had the message down pat. Afterall, they had heard the same message the previous two years as well, when they were in kindergarten and first-grade.

Establishing a clear set of rules from the first day of school has been part of the mission at Logan Elementary for the last five years, a program developed with Devereux, a behavioral health agency.

The agency has worked with 11 other district schools.

In the lunchroom, on the playround, in the hallways and especially in the classrooms, the expectations for good behavior were reviewed verbally and listed on bulletin boards and chalkboards around the school. And the school has seen a dramatic drop in disciplinary incidents as a result.

As the 166,000-student Philadelphia School District resumes classes today, improving behavior and minimizing disruption are paramount concerns on the mind of district leaders. The district last year had several serious teacher assaults, including an incident at Germantown High in which a teacher's neck was broken, and major disruption at West Philadelphia High School.

In addition to preventative and positive discipline programs like the one at Logan, this year, the district is targeting its most disruptive schools for special attention.

Forty schools, including 12 on the state's persistently dangerous schools' list, will get additional personnel and special attention, said district Chief Safety Executive James Golden. Calling it "single school culture," the plan calls for all personnel to focus on making the buildings safer and less disruptive places. All staff received training over the summer and last week.

Golden points out that the district has seen a 12.5 percent reduction in serious incidents over the last two years. That's a greater drop than the district's student enrollment, which has declined about 10 percent in the last two years.

The district also will continue with other programs that have been effective, including an anti-bullying program run by Physicians for Social Responsibility.