When students come to Craig Academy, they receive a functional behavioral assessment (FBA). An FBA is a collection of information from staff, family and the student that is put together to help understand the student. Information collected includes interviews, classroom observations and research from the student's records. A behavioral specialist studies all of the available information and to create a plan for each student, called the behavioral intervention plan (BIP). The plan is a guide for the staff who work with the student and helps staff to understand a child's patterns, likes and dislikes. The plan also includes goals to be worked on throughout the school year.

Together, the FBA and BIP helps Craig Academy staff to support our students. Student progress is measured through additional data collection and comparison. If needed, student BIPs can be rewritten to suit the child's needs.

Craig Academy also has a school-wide behavioral support system. This program helps students to understand how to replace problem behaviors with ones that work better. While many schools have level or point systems, Craig Academy takes the program further, teaching math, money skills and allows students to earn rewards for their positive behaviors.

At Craig Academy, the behavioral support system is called Watson Financial, because it works like a bank. It is modeled after a bank system, with deposits, bank books and bank cards (Students do not earn real money, rather "pretend" money to spend on special items and awards.)