Manners:
A School-Wide Effort

When manners are a school-wide focus, they can have a big impact on school climate.

At Paxtonia Elementary School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, a Good Manners Committee launched a program to decrease teaching time lost to unmannerly behavior. The PTA helped design a three-part program, providing parent volunteers and financial support.

For the Good Manners Reading Time program, teachers chose manners books and volunteers read them to every class. Subsequent book discussions helped children reflect on their own behaviors.

The Good Manners Money component of the program rewarded random acts of good manners observed throughout the school year by "mystery manners persons." Recognized students received 25-cent coupons for the school store, as well as acknowledgements in morning announcements and in the PTA newsletter.

The Mr. or Mrs. Manners Weekly Q + A part of the program enticed fifth-grade sleuths to investigate the intricacies of etiquette by answering weekly questions submitted by other classes. Questions and answers were shared with the entire school.

Individual teachers also expanded the program into their own subject areas. The music teacher taught good manners songs to students. Children in art classes drew posters of good manners for the school hallways. Every student in one class even remembered to send thank-you notes to the PTA.

Read More
Students Learn Respect Thanks to Good Manners

09/14/2010