The big picture
Behavior Expectations
Behavior is a curriculum. If it can be learned it can be taught, and if it can be taught it must be taught, explicitly, and rehearsed until it is automatic. No child arrives knowing how we enter a Launch, what listening looks like here, or what to do when the work gets hard and a game is one click away.
The first 8 weeks of every year are Bootcamp. We design the routines, build them through daily practice, and maintain them all year. This is not a soft start. It is the most important teaching of the year.
Every card described on this page maps to a routine that was taught in Bootcamp. A guide should not give a Yellow for a routine we never taught. If we are enforcing something we did not teach, that is ours to fix, not your child's.
How we think about it
What holds true everywhere
Five things that hold true at every Alpha campus, at every level, on every day.
01
95% persuasion, 5% enforcement
Students grow most when the adults around them connect, understand, coach, and motivate far more than they punish. The overwhelming majority of behavior work happens before a consequence is ever needed. But persuasion only works when students know the standards are real, so the small enforcement half protects the structure the large half depends on. Persuade whenever possible, enforce when necessary, coach always.
02
Fair, firm, and consistent
Fair means your child understands a standard before being held to it, and is treated with dignity even when their behavior crossed a line. Firm means the standard does not move because a child is upset, charming, having a hard day, or especially liked. We do not lower the bar, we build better support around it. Consistent means the same behavior gets the same response across adults, students, and days.
03
The system is the boundary, the guide is the coach
A consequence is not a guide being upset with your child. The boundary belongs to the system, which is the same for everyone and does not depend on who is in the room. The coaching belongs to the guide, and it is personal, supportive, and specific. The message is: this is the standard, your behavior crossed it, here is what happens, and I am here to help you through it.
04
Everyone on campus, not just guides
Ops, front desk, custodial and lunch staff all uphold the same boundaries, not just guides. If something happens in front of any adult, guides find out. Naming the boundary and delivering the coaching stays the guide's job.
05
Every behavioral skill is teachable
A Yellow, a Red, or a Strike is never a judgment of your child's character. It is not a label or a diagnosis. When a student disrupts, avoids, shuts down, or loses control, we treat it as information about a skill that is not there yet, and we ask what skill is missing rather than what is wrong with the child.
The steps
Warning, Yellow, Red, Strike
Four steps, in order. Coaching happens at every step: a guide walks your child through what happened, the standard they crossed, and what to do differently next time. That coaching, not the card, is the primary way consequences are handled, and you are notified the same day, at every step. Level 2 students get one warning for a specific behavior before a Yellow can be given.
One warning
Information, not a consequence.
A guide names the behavior, names which of the three buckets it falls in, and restates the expectation. In Level 2 a student gets one warning for the same specific behavior before a Yellow can be given.
What happens
- The guide names the behavior and its bucket, restates the expectation, and coaches your child through it. The warning is recorded.
- You are notified the same day.
If that same behavior continues or repeats the same day, the next step is a Yellow. A Yellow can only be given for a behavior that was already warned.
Warnings reset every day. Your child can hold warnings for several different behaviors at once without earning a Yellow.
Yellow
A low-level slip. Often a habit, a lapse, or a boundary test.
The same specific behavior continues or repeats on the same day, after one warning.
What happens
- Your child is coached through what happened: the behavior, the standard they crossed, and what they will do differently next time.
- You are notified the same day and asked to acknowledge it.
Three active Yellows in one week become a Red. A Yellow carries nothing else: no fine, and no lost privilege. The card, the conversation, the record, and the fact that they stack is the consequence.
Yellows reset every week.
Red
A moderate incident. Beyond a lapse in judgment, and serious enough that it cannot repeat without real harm to people, property, or learning.
Given immediately, with no warning first, for the behaviors listed further down this page. Also given automatically at three active Yellows in one week. A Red is defined by immediacy and impact, not by assumed intent.
What happens
- The same coaching conversation happens, and the standard privilege loss applies.
- You are notified the same day, and you can ask to set up a conversation with the Dean of Parents.
3 active Reds in one session become a Strike.
Reds reset every session.
Strike
A severe incident, or a serious pattern.
Given immediately for the most serious behaviors, with no warning first. Also given at 3 active Reds in one session.
What happens
- Your child steps out of the group space while a review team of the Lead Guide, the Head Guide, and the Dean of Parents decides whether a Strike is placed. Coaching continues through the Path Forward conversation.
- The Dean of Parents calls you the same day.
Strikes reset each academic year. A Strike that is successfully appealed comes off the count.
The three buckets
What crosses the line
Every warning and every card names one of three buckets, so your child always knows which line was crossed. These are examples, not the full list.
Disruptive
Behavior that interrupts the learning, for your child or for the people around them.
- Off-task during Core Skills, Check Chart, or a workshopYellow
- Repeated side conversation after a warning that dayYellow
- Speaking over a guide or a peer, repeatedlyYellow
- Entering an off-limits room or area without permissionYellow
- A phone or tablet out, or using a smartwatch to message, without guide permissionYellow
- Touching classroom property without permissionYellow
- Three active Yellows in one weekRed
- Browsing an unrelated website or game during a school activityRed
- 3 active Reds within one sessionStrike
Disrespectful
Behavior aimed at a person, their standing, or their things. Tone alone is not the test; intent to hurt is.
- Direct refusal to a guide, "no" or "I'm not doing that"Yellow
- Sarcasm or dismissiveness toward a guide after a warning that dayYellow
- An unkind comment to a peer after a warning that dayYellow
- Touching another student's property without permissionYellow
- Arguing or continuing to refuse after a Yellow and coachingRed
- Lying about work completed, or about earning a prizeRed
- Insulting a guide's competence, character, or worthRed
- Targeting a peer with unkindness meant to embarrass or hurtRed
- Profanity said aloud but not aimed at anyoneRed
- Cheating on an assignment or assessmentStrike
- Bypassing internet controlsStrike
- Cyberbullying or harmful digital contentStrike
- Bullying, meaning repeated targeting of the same studentStrike
- Falsely blaming a peer for something your child didStrike
- Damaging property, or stealingStrike
Dangerous
Behavior that puts a body at risk, whether or not anyone was hurt and whether or not it was meant seriously.
- Running in a hallway or designated walking areaYellow
- Swinging, tossing, or using materials unsafelyYellow
- Climbing on or jumping off furniture not meant for itYellow
- Leaving the campus boundary without permissionRed
- Roughhousing, including play that both students are enjoyingRed
- Shoving, or grabbing a peer's body, clothing, or backpackRed
- Throwing or launching an object at someoneRed
- Violent language, in frustration or in play, credible or notStrike
- Threats of violence toward a student or an adultStrike
- Physical harm: hitting, kicking, dragging, or retaliatingStrike
- Accessing, sharing, or gesturing explicit contentStrike
- Coming to school or a school event under the influenceStrike
- Bringing drugs, alcohol, tobacco, vape, or explicit material to schoolStrike
- Bringing a weapon, or arsonStrike
Privileges and Alpha currency
What else a card costs
Privileges are not rights. They are part of the trust students earn by consistently meeting the standard, and they can be paused or pulled when a consequence calls for it.
| Card | Privilege loss |
|---|---|
| Warning | None. A warning is information, not a consequence. |
| Yellow | None automatic. Stacking toward a Red is the consequence. |
| Red | Rocketship, Middle School off-campus, the Emporium that Friday, experiential trips, plus the specific resource involved. |
| Strike | Rocketship, Middle School off-campus, the Emporium that Friday, experiential trips, plus the specific resource involved. |
Reds and Strikes also cost the thing that was involved. Roughhousing on the playground loses the playground. Unsafe with sports equipment loses the equipment. Unsafe at the pool loses the pool. Those specific losses last the day of and the day after.
Fines
Alpha-currency costs for not upholding a responsibility, either your child's own or one their group held together. Fines are agreed in Town Hall, posted, and known in advance. They sit entirely outside Yellow, Red, and Strike, and are never used for unsafe behavior, cruelty, dishonesty, or aggression. Town Hall never decides cards.
Fees
A fee asks one question: did your child have an independent option and choose not to use it? Asking a guide what time it is when there are clocks, or what is for lunch when the menu is posted. A fee is not a punishment, it is a nudge toward independence, and it should be a light moment rather than a surprise. Fees are never set up to discourage a student who genuinely needs help.
After a Strike
Appeals
Depending on what happened, some Strikes can be appealed to remove them from your child's record.
If a Strike affects other people or other people's things, it cannot be appealed. If it affects your child, or things belonging to no one in particular, it can.
Can be appealed
The Strike can come off the record.
- Non-credible violent language
- Damages property
- Cheats on an assessment
- Having another student log in and complete work
- Leaves the test window
- Uses AI to cheat
- Copies peer work
- Steals an Emporium item
- Bypasses internet controls
- Accesses explicit content
- 3 active Reds
Cannot be appealed
The Strike stays on the record.
- Cyberbullying or harmful digital content
- Sharing explicit content
- Credible violence threat
- Threatens a student or an adult
- Throws a dangerous object
- Kicks or punches with intent
- Reckless physical harm
- Pulls or drags a peer unsafely
- Retaliatory violence
- Brings a prohibited item
- Sexual comments, gestures, or touching
- Intentional exposure
- Bullying
- Steals from a peer, a guide, or a store
- Directed profanity
Catching it right
Shout-Outs
Every afternoon we stop and call out the students who got it right that day. Shout-outs name a student for one of the four core life skills, out loud, in front of their peers. Some shout-outs go to a whole group when a table, a team, or a level held the standard together.
Uplifting others
Treating each other with kindness and respect, and supporting and helping others in the community.
Upholding community standards
Following the agreed-upon rules and expectations, and respecting each other's personal space, belongings, and the school's resources.
Receiving feedback
Active listening and openness to others' perspectives. Reflecting on input and considering how to apply it.
Independence
Self-directing and managing their own day at Alpha. Taking responsibility for their actions and learning from their experiences. Being proactive in seeking resources and solutions.
Shout-outs are recognition, not currency. There is no tally, no card, and nothing to spend. The point is that the behavior gets named in front of the people it was for.