School District of New Berlin

PAWS teaches a student how to integrate life skills (communication, human relations and coping), with a positive attitude and how to work toward competence.  With positive attitudes and life skills, students are able to respond creatively and intellectually to ever-changing problems which confront our modern world.

A positive attitude, more than skills or intelligence, is the central element in determining success.  PAWS is developed around this theme and includes the following four basic, research-supported beliefs:

• A strong, positive relationship exists between self-concept and achievement.
• A positive self-concept is learned and, therefore, it can be taught.
• Children must experience success in order to develop and/or sustain a positive self-concept.
• A positive learning climate, including school, home and community, is crucial.

The goal of PAWS is to assist faculty, staff, students and parents in building positive attitudes, life skills and character.  This goal is accomplished largely through the use of team building, positive climate, modeling and positive reinforcement in a systematic, theme-of-the-month approach.  Successful schools, educators and parents learn to focus on:

• Successes no Failures
• Potential not Limitations
• Strengths not Weaknesses
• Positives not Negatives