School lunchrooms are often loud and boisterous places, but at PS 45 on Staten Island something else was going on: 3rd-grade boys were often fighting with each other. The fighting stopped after the staff collected and examined data that showed the hot spots for conflict in the lunchroom — and where the school aides were stationed.

It was an eye-opener.

“All of the incidents occurred in one area of the lunchroom, and the adults were congregating in another area,” says Chapter Leader Julie Pleszewicz. Now the aides are assigned to zones throughout the lunchroom, and playtime is structured in the playground, with aides strategically placed to prevent disruptions or prevent minor skirmishes from escalating.

“That came out of our PLC analysis,” says Pleszewicz.

The PLC — the Positive Learning Collaborative — is a consortium of the UFT and the Department of Education that trains school staff in therapeutic crisis intervention and gives them the tools and support to collect and analyze data about student behavior. These strategies help staff defuse a student’s outburst before a crisis occurs. PS 45, which has nearly 900 students in grades pre-K–5, has already seen results since joining the program in September 2013.

An important part of the PLC training is figuring out each child’s baseline, where that child’s normal state usually is. A family illness, a disagreement with a friend or a financial crisis at home can be the event that causes a child to move off his or her baseline by withdrawing or misbehaving in a way that disrupts learning.

To know each child’s baseline, school staff had to start talking and sharing information with one another. That’s why PLC requires the entire school — from kitchen staff to principal — to go for training.

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If a kid is having a bad day, we all now know about it before noon,” says guidance counselor Charles Graziani. “It’s not just one teacher’s problem. As soon as we know a student is off baseline, we’re prepared.”

Second-grade special education teacher Julia Satt said that the staff carefully observes what might set a student off. For instance, she says, a student might have difficulty with transitions, either moving between classes or within the class itself from tables to carpet. “The child may need to be in the same spot to handle the transition,” Satt said.

Staff members are also encouraged to examine what their own “triggers” are — the adult reactions that might exacerbate a situation with a child on the verge of a meltdown. Sometimes the best strategy, they have learned, is to back off.

Christie Benante, a 5th-grade teacher, says she has learned that when she sees a child off baseline — for example, upset and argumentative — she’ll give the child a chance to collect himself.

“Instead of asking, ‘What’s the matter with you?’ I’ll tell the student to take a few breaths,” Benante says. If she sees a child inappropriately expressing anger or frustration — for example, throwing a pencil on the floor repeatedly — she’ll have a private conversation with the child about other options for managing those feelings. It can be something as simple as squeezing a soft ball or taking a seat in a “chill-out” chair.

PS 45 students who set good examples for their peers are selected to participate in the SOAR team — which stands for Safe, Organized, Attitude and Respect — under the supervision of guidance counselor Libby McPike. The team works toward a positive climate in the school by making presentations to their peers. The team even made a video that has been posted to the school’s website.

“The PLC has helped all of us get to know the children at a more human level,” says Principal Christine Chavez. “We’re strengthening routines and procedures to look at the child in an academic and a social way.”

That level of commitment and focus has made PS 45 a model of what can be achieved by participating in the PLC program.

“There are a few factors that made PS 45 ripe for the PLC,” says PLC Director Dana Ashley. “The principal was really interested, and she and the chapter leader have a good working relationship. The teachers took our guidance and training and ran with it.”

The school’s 11-member PLC team attended the PLC’s first weekend training retreat on Dec. 6 and 7. One of the presentations was about the development of a child’s executive functioning skills, which regulate emotional control, memory and sustained attention, among other things.

Kindergarten teacher Eileen Ward said the presentation hit a chord with her and many of her colleagues, who began thinking about how it applied to their own behavior. “Understanding yourself,” said Ward. “That’s how you change the scenario. You have to own your own behavior.”

If you are interested in your school participating in the PLC, contact Dana Ashley at 1-212-701-9499.