Breeze Hill Elementary
Breeze Hill is the largest elementary school in the Vista Unified School District, with more than 700 students. The school welcomed new principal David Reese in September 2024, and the team has been working nonstop to build on the school’s many strengths.
The Breeze Hill staff has dug deeper into integrating the school’s Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS) program, building a culture that is designed to bring out the best in students.
In addition to the PBIS expansion, Breeze Hill has revitalized its student council, creating more opportunities for students to bring their voices and talents to the school. There’s the Breeze Hill Band program, a partnership with the YMCA, and an increased number of family activities on campus.
Building a Culture of Achievement
“This is my first year, and we're just getting off the ground,” he says. “There's been a lot of work done around PBIS and integrating with Breeze Hill's long time ‘Culture of Achievement’ That is being built upon this year, and it’s going really well.” The four Pillars are: We Are Welcoming, Do No Harm, Use Choice Words, and It's Never Too Late to Learn.
He says that adding visuals throughout the campus that remind students of the pillars and the behavioral expectations has helped greatly, as well as tying the ‘Caught Being Good’ reward system to the behaviors and pillars. Students receive recognition for their positive citizenship and for being “caught being good.”
“It's a shift in culture and previous discipline models,” says Reese. “We are focused on teaching and learning of behavioral expectations and encouraging positive behaviors and celebrating and recognizing students when they are following the expectations.”
Incentives for students include weekly prizes and classroom competitions to win extra recess or a popsicle party. “Breeze Hill has always had these things in place, but we’ve really just focused on putting all the pieces together,” adds Reese. This has included examining the school’s discipline system, including the reporting and data.
The emphasis on building culture extends to times like lunch and recess, which now includes a partnership with the nearby YMCA. Under the partnership, a coach from the YMCA is present during the lunch recess period with Kindergarten through fifth grade, four days a week. The coach facilitates play activities to encourage positive culture-building behaviors.
Student Council Engages Student Voices
Reese is particularly enthusiastic about the recent revitalization of the student council, which is part of Breeze Hill’s Extended Learning Opportunities. “This year they’ve decided to implement a journalism component and produce a video called ‘Coyote News,’ which is pretty cool,” he says. “They report on different things going on in school, do teacher interviews, and practice their journalism skills.”
The student council has also been tasked with overseeing the school's ASB funds which includes money spent for field trips, incentives, and activities, engaging more student voices across the school’s activities, says Reese.
The groups have organized all of the school’s spirit days as well as a Valentine's Day Gram fundraiser, which raised close to $800. Not only did the students participate in those activities, but the school’s leaders have empowered students to make decisions on how to use the funds raised.
One example was a Hawaiian-themed dance during lunchtime in April. The students used ASB funds to hire a local DJ and buy leis for students. Students pored over several possible DJs, learning how to collaborate and develop decision-making skills as a group.
The student council also chose to invest in a new costume for the school mascot, a coyote, which will be unveiled soon at a Friday school assembly. As with the choice of DJ, students collaborated on the style of the mascot uniform, the size, and the materials, providing a greater sense of ownership of the resource for the school that will remain long after many students are promoted to higher grades.
The Breeze Hill Band
The school’s 5th-grade band program came about thanks to Prop 28 funds, which provided funding for instruments. Reese says it was also inspired by a new focus on expanding music and performing arts.
Madison Middle School’s band teacher now teaches at Breeze Hill for their Extended Learning program two days a week, with participants already having had the exciting experience of performing at the 2024 Christmas holiday concert at Madison.
“We’re looking at expanding Music,” continues Reese, “so next year we are going to move one of our prep teachers to become a music teacher.” They are also expanding and offering visual arts opportunities during the school day, starting next year.
Engaging Families, Creating a Special Environment
Admin is also focused on increasing family engagement. “Because of the size of the school, there are sometimes barriers around that because you can't have 5000 people on campus at once!” he laughs.
“But this year we’ve increased events to include families, like Math Nights and Lunch on the Lawn, and we’re definitely seeing a forward trajectory in terms of where we're going.”
When asked what makes Breeze Hill special, Reese says: “We have a very diverse population. And it’s diverse in different ways, which is exciting because we have opportunities to expand and get different perspectives.
“We have really solid teaching, our teachers are very collaborative and supportive, and we have great kids. The pillars are a great foundation that we promote and the kids know and live by.”