BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — In response to an uptick in behavioral issues, Broken Arrow Schools created Tiger Connect to address the problem head-on.
“The needs of students are changing,” said Tiger Connect Principal Rachel Kaiser. “The needs of families are changing and so public school has to respond to that.”
Tiger Connect is an alternative learning program for students who are struggling behaviorally.
“I show respect through my actions and words,” said teacher Joe Freymuth to his students. “We talked about being respectful to our friends, family, teachers, staff.”
The start of Joe Freymuth’s Tiger Connect class looks a bit different. While their academic goals are the same, the focus for the small group of students is to make sure they have a toolbox of skills to help them cope with behavioral challenges.
“We’re able to individualize some of the teaching and learning and we can easily address if maybe there’s an issue that’s coming that we can see and we can take care of that before it escalates,” said Freymuth.
Housed at the Options Academy, Freymuth, along with behavior coaches, takes the students through specialized learning for at least six weeks.
“It starts young, and if we can catch them as young as we can, then we can build them up and make sure that they are successful whenever they get back to their site,” said Freymuth.
Katie Marion says Tiger Connect was a lifeline when her 2nd-grade son was having issues in the classroom.
“There were days he would only spend 15 minutes in the classroom,” she said. “He would just get overwhelmed by everything going on around him or just his anxiety. We were doing therapy and everything else you can think of and it still just wasn’t quite enough. It was definitely frustrating not being able to figure out what you need to do to help your child be successful.”
After her son’s principal pointed them to the program, Marion says it’s helped him manage his emotions and communicate how he’s feeling and why.
“I’m very grateful that Broken Arrow has identified this need for their students,” said Marion.
“We have been hearing for a little while that teachers were struggling to meet the needs of more and more students every year,” said Kaiser.
Along with serving as Principal of Tiger Connect, Rachel Kaiser is also the Director of Health Services for the district. She says the rise in behavioral challenges isn’t just happening in Broken Arrow.
An EdWeek Research Center survey reported 70% of educators they surveyed have seen more student behavior issues now than compared to 2019, right before the pandemic.
“Covid didn’t do anybody any favors, but I truly think what we’re seeing is our kiddos are being raised differently.”
With less face-to-face play and more screen time, Kaiser says they’re addressing these issues younger with social and emotional learning.
“Helping them to understand that between feeling the emotion and doing something about it there’s this space to make a decision about what would be appropriate to do,” said Kaiser.
In our back-to-school interview with Superintendent Chuck Perry, he said it’s vital to start early with interventions.
“A lot of times we wait to do it at the middle school and high school level and at that point some really extreme behaviors start to manifest and you’re dealing with more suspensions and it doesn’t pan out well for the students in the long run, so we’re trying to get them at an earlier age and teach them those skills,” said Superintendent Chuck Perry.
Marion says she’s a bit nervous to send her son back to his home classroom, but knows with the guided transitions paired with his new skills, he’ll be okay.
“It’s been very helpful and it makes me feel a lot better about his success in the future in school,” said Marion.
“It’s such a pleasure to walk into their home site and say this one is coming back to you,” said Freymuth. “They did great at Tiger Connect. They’re going to do a great job here.”
Since starting in February, the district says they’ve already seen success so they’ve already expanded the program by adding an additional teacher.
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