Several middle school principals prefer to use in-school suspension whenever they can.

"We try to think of it as a learning opportunity," said Jacquelyn Hopkins, principal of Oak Village Middle School.
The grade 6 to 8 school has been using ISS for several years, and has few out-of-school suspensions.

The fact that most students intensely dislike in-school suspension is a behavior management tool in itself. "It's very unpopular; it's not something kids are dying to get into,". "They can't leave and they can't sleep, they have to remain engaged in their schoolwork."

Students are assigned to the intervention center, a separate room under adult supervision, for between one and five days, but only after other disciplinary measures have been tried. "Generally, it is not the first intervention,"."We try conferences, team meetings, and lunch detentions first."

If those interventions fail to change a student's behavior and he or she receives in-school suspension, on the first day the student is greeted by a teacher who reviews the school's rule book and discusses how they could have handled their situation differently.

Then students work on assignments from their classes. A teacher from their team checks on them daily to ensure assignments are being completed.

At the end of the suspension, students meet with an administrator or counselor before returning to class,."I think it's effective," she said. "Most parents would prefer that their student stay in school. This gives us a middle step. The key is that the child changes his or her behavior.