Clover Park School District has been awarded a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) to improve students' sense of community, personal responsibility, and well-being through further development of the Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) programs at elementary schools with a high military-connected student enrollment. PBIS is a proactive approach to establishing the behavioral supports and social culture needed for all students in a school to achieve social, emotional and academic success.

The grant will also be used to help improve student achievement in math and English language arts by utilizing in-class supports such as the Response to Intervention (RTI) framework and other programs. RTI is a multi-tier approach to the early identification and support of students with learning and behavior needs.  

"We are very fortunate we received this grant," said Brian Laubach, deputy superintendent. "More than forty percent of our students are connected to the military. The financial support offered by this grant strengthens the work and interventions we already have in place and allows us to expand these programs."

The DoDEA grant program seeks to improve student achievement and ease the challenges military-dependent students have due to transitions and deployments. Educators will receive professional development training to strengthen their content knowledge skills and understanding of military-dependent students' needs.

This is the fifth DoDEA grant the district has received. The funding of the five-year grant begins Sept. 1.