Linwood Middle School’s rules are stricter
New principal outlines new policies to parents during forum
NORTH BRUNSWICK — Linwood Middle School Principal Vincent DeLucia spoke to parents Monday night about the new discipline rules instituted this year.
"The students need to understand the rules of behavior," DeLucia said. "I want to enhance the sense of community at Linwood to move toward high academic achievement. It is important how we handle the kids."
It is the goal of DeLucia to try and take care of any existing problems.
"Our goal is to take all the loose ends and put them together," he said. "We have asked teachers to come together. Good choices can lead to good achievements. I want to bring the pieces together at Linwood."
DeLucia said that the best way to deal with discipline problems is to try and prevent them from existing.
"There are a couple of things that lead to discipline problems," DeLucia said. "We have to try to prevent any problems. Good instruction can lead to great achievements. A low self-esteem can promote bad behavior. Behavior is a choice that can be either good or bad. The student is not bad — it can be the choice that is wrong. I want the students to have a sense of being connected and capable."
The best way to prevent negative behavior is to prevent a student from making a bad choice, according to DeLucia.
"There are situations where kids make bad choices," DeLucia said. "I want to separate the choice from the student. I also want to make the consequences of a negative act clear. I tell students that they don’t have Saturday detention, they have to earn it. I also prefer in-school suspension over out-of-school suspension, unless a violent act has been committed."
DeLucia said that there are various reasons why students misbehave.
"There are four goals for misbehaving," DeLucia said. "People want attention, so we have to teach them how to seek appropriate attention. Students try to avoid failure. A low self-esteem can promote bad behavior. Some students are seeking power or simply control over life. The worst part of bad behavior is revenge. We have to try to find a way to get their goals back."
DeLucia recently reworked the Linwood Middle School handbook in which he specified the rights and responsibilities of the students.
The students have the responsibility to respect the rights of all people to be in a learning environment free from physical and verbal abuse, to respect authority and follow directions from adult staff members of the school, and to act and dress in a manner appropriate for learning in a school setting.
The responsibilities for students specifies they must attend school and classes every day and be on time, complete all work and obligations on time, care for their own property and that of others, and live by the laws of the community, state and nation.
DeLucia also said the students have the right to be treated with the same dignity and respect that they are expected to accord others, to receive a quality education program and instruction that supports their efforts to learn and achieve the highest possible results, to receive assistance in learning how to solve problems that get in their way of succeeding in school, and the right to due process and appeal.