A districtwide K-12 initiative has paid dividends for a Northern Lehigh elementary school.

Peters Elementary School Principal Paul Leonzi informed the school board on Monday that the school has been awarded the recognition of Universal (Tier One) Initial Implementation with Fidelity.Leonzi said that two years ago, as part of the districtwide initiative, Peters Elementary began implementation of a Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support program.He said the school was provided an opportunity to be evaluated by an outside entity in the form of the Pennsylvania Positive Behavior Support Network.An evaluation tool called School-Wide Evaluation Tool was conducted on-site at Peters by a panel of members from PaTTAN and local IUs, Leonzi said.Leonzi said that shortly after the evaluation, the school was notified by the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network that the school had been awarded the recognition of Universal (Tier One) Initial Implementation with Fidelity.Afterward, Leonzi introduced two members of Peters' SWPBS team, school counselor Kelly Kromer, and kindergarten teacher Susanne Hegedus, who recently attended the Pennsylvania Positive Behavior Support Network Implementers Forum in Hershey.Schoolwide Positive Behavior Support refers to a systems change process for an entire school or district in which the underlying theme is teaching behavioral expectations in the same manner as any core curriculum subject.