Creating Inclusive Classrooms with CPI Training in the Sunrise School District

In many rural school districts, fewer staff and tighter budgets contribute to the difficulties of creating inclusive classrooms where all students can learn together and be successful. Despite these challenges, it is possible to create inclusive classrooms by giving staff adequate training and support.

When paraprofessional Diane St. John began working for Missouri’s Sunrise School District, she recognized the staff and students could benefit from CPI’s trauma‑informed de‑escalation training. “[Sunrise School District] is a very rural district. We had some students who were exhibiting behaviors that were concerning. I went to the administration and spoke with them about bringing CPI to our district,” she explained.

With CPI training, Sunrise School District has experienced an:

• Increase in staff confidence
• Decrease in classroom disruptions
• Increase in positive peer-to-peer relationships

Explore how CPI training helped Sunrise staff support student success and well-being and how you can achieve similar results in your school or district.

CPI Training Gives Staff the Confidence to Create Inclusive Classrooms

Before working at Sunrise, St. John saw firsthand what could happen if staff were not provided with the proper training to support students living with behavioral or developmental disabilities. “I worked with a co-op of ten districts in our county. Each district housed different classrooms based on students’ needs. Students had to be bussed throughout the county to the district that best fit their needs.”

While this solution offered support for students, rides often lasted over an hour one way—preventing them from getting a full day of academic instruction and pulling them away from their normal classroom environment. The solution also failed to address the fact that educators need additional training to help support students while keeping them in the classroom as much as possible.

When St. John noticed students at Sunrise needed better support from educators, she decided to step in. While no students were being bussed to different districts, staff often resorted to sending students out of the classroom when their behavior escalated beyond their control.

“Even with positive behavior interventions and supports (PBIS) in place, we were still seeing some students who were struggling with behaviors. We needed a little bit more support. Once we brought CPI to our district, staff started to understand there were ways to keep the student in the classroom and work with them, meet them at their level, and meet their needs in the classroom setting.”

One key to this shift was the staff’s understanding of the Integrated Experience. “We understand how our behavior affects our students’ behavior. CPI has helped bring calm to the classroom setting,” St. John shared.

Providing Sunrise staff with the tools to understand the causes of behavior and how to best support students has increased their confidence. “We are now able to recognize behaviors in advance,” explained St. John. “Having CPI in place at our school makes the teachers more confident in their instruction time.”

CPI Training Helps Decrease Classroom Incidents

Before CPI training, classroom disruptions negatively impacted instruction time at Sunrise. “One of the biggest benefits of CPI training is that it decreases classroom incidents,” St. John shared. “Overall, CPI has helped bring calm to our classrooms.”

Sunrise staff now have the skills to safely de-escalate a situation and proactively create spaces where all students feel welcome. They also have the knowledge to understand what might be causing the behavior their student is exhibiting and how to best help them be successful.

“I think a lot of it is just helping kids open up,” she explained. “I’ve had a lot of students that, when they shut down, they almost immediately go into panic mode. But now, I can see they might be having a rough day, and I can say, ‘Let’s talk about that. Let’s work through this so we can keep our day on track.’ It just makes me so happy to know I can work with them and help keep them in the classroom.”

Equipping staff with the skills to care for students in the classroom has helped improve student well-being and allowed for new friendships to form.

CPI Training Improves Peer-to-Peer Relationships

Another benefit of CPI training is its impact on improving peer-to-peer relationships. As St. John explained, “Having staff in there and helping students, their peers are watching, and they are learning. They want to try to do the same things to help their peers.”

Students are actively supporting the success of one another. This has helped students with behavioral and developmental challenges begin to form true friendships.

“The students get to spend more time in the classroom and be around their peers and get that extra learning. A lot of students have started to develop peer relationships because they can talk through stuff. Now, kids want to be around them.”

Developing positive peer-to-peer relationships helps students feel connected, supported, and welcome.

With CPI training, Sunrise staff have the tools to create more inclusive classrooms where all students can succeed together. Explore our training programs and connect with our team below to get started.