Highpoint School East was front and center at the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals (TASSP) Summer Workshop in Austin this week.

Principal Courtney Waters and assistant principals Troy Moore and Mercedes Love, who represented the school at a conference for the first time ever, led a room of more than 40 campus leaders and central office administrators from across the state in a discussion about reframing Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs (DAEP).

The presentation, “Pushing Past Punitive: A Think Tank for DAEP Programming,” shed light on what Highpoint does differently to respond to student behavior and create a positive campus culture. Waters, Moore, and Love provided an overview of the school’s services and programs aimed at empowering and rehabilitating students, such as equine therapy, community service, and mentorship initiatives, as well as positive relationship-building and student behavior interventions and supports.

“We’re highlighting our positives and how we achieve them with the hope that other DAEP programs will follow,” said Moore.

Waters and her team also led attendees through exercises to spark conversation with other participants and share best practices when handling challenging situations at DAEP schools.