Case Study: Herzl School of Excellence achieves a 40% drop in behavior incidents and improved attendance with Kickboard

By shifting its focus from punitive to positive, Chicago school exhibits astounding improvement

Herzl School of Excellence, a PreK–8 turnaround school in Chicago serving a predominantly low‑income student body, was struggling with chronic misbehavior, lost instructional time and low “on‑track” rates—fewer than half of students were on track and staff recorded well over 1,400–1,600 behavior incidents annually. To address this, Herzl partnered with Kickboard, using Kickboard’s data‑tracking and analysis platform (with support from a Kickboard School Culture Coach and the Kickboard Family Portal) to move from punitive discipline to a positive, data‑driven school culture.

Using Kickboard to log interactions, track positivity ratios, run incentive “Paw Points” programs, train staff, and share reports with families, Herzl shifted behavior expectations and rewarded replacement behaviors. The results were dramatic: behavior misconducts fell 40%, class time lost dropped from 60,240 to 19,200 minutes, suspensions decreased from 256 to 17, attendance rose to 96%, parent conferences increased by 30%, the on‑track graduation rate climbed from 50% to 63%, and the school achieved an average 3:1 positive‑to‑corrective interaction ratio — all enabled by Kickboard’s platform and supports.

Herzl School of Excellence