Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports(Step Up)

Student Training & Enrichment Program for Urban Progress (Step-Up) is a project of the Jewish Renaissance Foundation, funded by the NJ State Department of Children and Families. Step-Up is based out of the Academy for Urban Leadership Charter School. The program offers a number of services that support the students of this school. When a student’s high-risk behavior puts his or her education in jeopardy, Step Up intervenes with solutions. The program trains students as peer mediators who can resolve conflicts among fellow students. Also, the program director provides case management for repeat offenders and mandates community service projects.

The services provided by Step-Up are Conflict/Peer Mediation, Community Service opportunities, and Case Managemen

Conflict/Peer Mediation

What is conflict?

“A state of opposition between persons or ideas or interests.”

It is inevitable to encounter conflict at one point in everyone’s lives, especially with growing teens. Although we may not always agree with everyone’s ideas and points of view, we must learn to respect that, as individuals, we have the right to disagree.

The conflict/peer mediation program at the Urban Leadership Charter School gives students the tools to successfully mediate conflicts between peers, under the supervision of the Program Coordinator.

As peer mediators, the students will be trained on how to listen effectively and help their peers respect each other’s differences. Mediation is not intended to solve the conflict, but help students understand why the conflict has arisen. The peer mediators help the students come up with their own rules on how they can avoid future conflicts with each other.