Case Study: Riverside Intermediate School achieves an 81% drop in suspensions and 23% fewer detentions with PowerSchool's Unified Classroom® Behavior Support

Reducing Detentions and Suspensions through Enhanced Family Engagement

Riverside Intermediate School in Indiana faced a schoolwide behavior problem in 2017–18, recording 363 after-school detentions and 113 suspensions. The school’s paper-and-pencil behavior slips were frequently lost, took teacher time, and made family communication inconsistent, while repeated and extreme behaviors led to many office referrals. Riverside needed a consistent, efficient way to record behavior, engage families, and reduce detentions and suspensions.

Riverside implemented Unified Classroom® Behavior Support and its Family Portal, linking a PRIDE-values incentive program to real-time behavior tracking that teachers log during the day and families and students can view instantly. The result: suspensions fell 81% year-over-year, detentions dropped from 363 to 280 (~23%), school positivity rose from 56% to 77%, and office referrals and in-school suspensions were sharply reduced—while communication and student engagement became more timely and transparent.

Riverside Intermediate School

Kyle Coffman

Principal