When we talk about PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports), it’s easy to picture behavior charts, token economies, and a few posters in the hallway. But at Orange Grove Middle School, Principal Mark Rubin-Toles and his team took PBIS to a completely different level. They didn’t just adopt a framework—they built a PBIS School-Wide framework from the inside out.
And what they built doesn’t just work for them. It’s a PBIS school-wide framework that other schools will want to watch closely.
by Dr. Tim Grivois, Executive Director
Starting with PBIS, Growing into So Much More
As Mark put it during one of our recent conversations, PBIS at Orange Grove became the foundation. “It really allowed us to expand into how we address academic and emotional struggles, too,” he said. “What started as behavior support evolved into a system for making sure all our kids are getting what they need.”
This is what a PBIS school-wide framework is supposed to do—but rarely does. Rather than limiting the work to behavior charts and expectations assemblies, Orange Grove used PBIS as a way to design systems around students’ full range of needs: behavior, academics, and emotional well-being.
The Power of an “Orange Grove-Flavored” school-wide PBIS framework
One of the things I’m most proud of in this collaboration is how customized the framework has become. You won’t find a traditional PBIS playbook here. As I told Mark, “There’s a lot of classic PBIS you won’t see at Orange Grove—but what you have is better. It’s better for you.”
Mark agreed: “Yeah. It’s better for Orange Grove, for sure.”
That kind of alignment between a framework and a school’s identity is rare. It’s not just PBIS. It’s PBIS that speaks the language, values, and rhythms of this staff, these students, and this community.
When PBIS Stops Being a Program and Starts Being the System
Too often, schools treat PBIS like a checklist—one more initiative to implement with fidelity. But real change happens when PBIS stops being a program and becomes the system that holds everything else together. At Orange Grove, behavior support didn’t become an extra thing. It became the foundation for solving deeper problems.
That’s the secret of a strong PBIS school-wide framework: it doesn’t live on its own. It weaves into everything—how the school responds to student needs, how staff collaborate, and how systems are built (and rebuilt) with purpose.
A PBIS School-Wide Framework Model Worth Paying Attention To
I told Mark that I believe what they’ve built will be a model for others. Not because they followed every guideline in the PBIS manual, but because they created a system that makes sense for their people.
If you’re a school leader trying to make PBIS work—or wondering if it’s even worth the effort—this is the takeaway: PBIS works best when it stops being about fidelity to someone else and starts being about fidelity to what’s best for your school, your team, and your students.
Ready to Build a PBIS School-Wide Framework That Works for You?
At TGS Educational Consulting, we help schools design behavior systems that are deeply aligned with their culture, values, and student needs. Whether you’re starting from scratch or rethinking your current approach, you don’t have to do it alone.
Let’s talk about what PBIS could look like in your context—no pressure, no cookie-cutter solutions.