More than 100 staff members of PS 45 in Staten Island attended a meeting on Jan. 27 with the staff of the Institute for Understanding Behavior, a consortium of the New York City Department of Education and the UFT. The institute trains school staff in a systemic approach to understanding, assessing and supporting positive student behavior. Eight schools are participating in the program, which requires the entire school staff to participate in the institute’s four-day training sessions. More than two-thirds of the staff at PS 45 will have completed the training by the end of February. The meeting focused on what to expect over the next few years in terms of support. “It generated a little bit of excitement,” said Dana Ashley, the director of the institute, which also provided a luncheon for the school staff as part of the event. Each staff member received a packet of information, with messages from UFT President Michael Mulgrew and New York City Deputy Chancellor Corinne Rello-Anselmi. Participants also completed an anonymous survey about what is happening in the building. “It’s a needs assessment that will help us during the training,” Ashley said.