About Us

We can help you make a difference.

About Safe & Civil Schools

Randy Sprick discovered his passion for working with students with emotional and behavioral issues as a teacher’s aide. This formative time pushed Randy to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Oregon in special education, where he focused on shaping student behavior through positive and proactive interactions. This ultimately led to the founding of Safe & Civil Schools in 1985.

Randy’s approach is grounded in the key principle that behavior is learned and can therefore be shaped. A way to shape this behavior is through the school’s most important asset—its educators. Educators have the power to create positive, proactive, and caring settings that influence student behavior and provide an environment in which they can thrive.

Today, Safe & Civil Schools encompasses these same ideals. We bring research to practice by developing user-friendly tools to ensure that the needs of every student are met. Our approach is rooted in data-driven practices that allow educators to celebrate their successes.

At Safe & Civil Schools, we create a unified framework that meets the needs of all students. Using a cohesive multi-tiered system, administrators and educators receive quality training to foster behavioral success for all students. At the universal level, educators build and implement school- and classroom-level behavioral procedures that target the majority of students. For those students who may have behavioral roadblocks that require additional intervention, educators learn how to best support the individual behavior needs of each student. We pride ourselves in helping schools build an environment where each student is supported and treated with dignity and respect.

Safe & Civil Schools believes in the power educators have to shape the lives of our future generations. 

Behavior is a problem to be solved and not a threat to be removed.

Randy Sprick, Founder

Randy Sprick has worked as a paraprofessional, teacher, and teacher trainer at the elementary and secondary levels. Author of a number of widely read books on behavior and classroom management, Randy founded Safe & Civil Schools in 1985.

Although Randy is largely retired, his Safe & Civil Schools colleagues continue the work of helping large and small school districts improve student behavior and motivation. Efficacy of that work is documented in peer-reviewed research, and Safe & Civil Schools materials are listed on the National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP). Randy was the recipient of the 2007 Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) Wallin Lifetime Achievement Award and was inducted into the Direct Instruction Hall of Fame, along with numerous other awards and honors.