PARIS — With behavior incidents on buses rising among students at Paris Elementary School, the school has begun trying to use positive reinforcement to encourage good conduct.

Reporting to Maine School Administrative District 17 directors during their Dec. 15 meeting, Principal Jamie Toohey shared that a review of reports have shown that bus incidents are the leading reason for referrals and interventions.

In September 2024, the school had two reports of misbehavior on school buses, but this year it has jumped to 10. Toohey tasked Assistant Principal Kim Desjardins to develop a remedy.

Enter the school mascot: the cardinal.

With Desjardins’ new system, students on each bus are challenged to build points earned from meeting expectations of good behavior, with tallies posted daily for everyone in the school to see which bus is racking up the most points.

At the end of the week, the bus with the highest number of earned points gets the privilege of having the stuffed cardinal mascot ride with the students the following week. The kids also earn individual point cards. When a bus cohort gets the most points during future weeks, the rewards kick up a notch.

“The second time, they get a prize box. The kids love prizes,” Desjardins said. “It doesn’t matter what age they are. When they do it a third time, the students get an extra recess with Mrs. Toohey and me.

“And for the fourth time — this is our favorite — we have a pizza breakfast for the kids with their bus driver.”

The goal is to reinforce positive connections between school bus drivers and the students who are in their care twice every day.

“It pulls our drivers into our school community,” Desjardins said. “We (administrators) handle the discipline, but we bring the drivers in for that restorative meeting when we work with students for their behavior issues.”

Toohey said the large stuffed cardinal, which has not yet been assigned to any bus, is already an immediate hit with the students. Naming the mascot is a schoolwide project, with a decision coming before the start of Christmas vacation. Desjardins said the name “Pip” has so far drawn the most support.

Toohey also told the board that Paris Elementary is gaining on its goal to have a 95% average attendance rate, with students reaching 93% during November.

“We just honored 161 pre-K through sixth grade students for having perfect attendance last month,” she said.