72% Fewer Discipline Incidents in Two Years! How One Breakthrough Coach-Trained Principal Did It

Chris Wyland is a Breakthrough Coach Graduate and Principal of M.A. Lynch Elementary, a K-5, Title 1 school of 352 students, located in Redmond, Oregon. 

Since taking the reigns at Lynch in 2022, Chris and his team have reduced the schools’ overall number of discipline incidents by 72% – from 1652 reported incidents in June 2023, to 462 in June 2025. 

When asked what he and his team did to cause such a monumental impact so quickly, Chris told us:

• We established clear expectations and routines for both student and staff behavior, and we collectively enforced them.
• I made sure I was out in the building and in classrooms for a minimum of two full days every week. On other days I would complete my office work while sitting at the back of those classrooms whose teachers needed additional behavioral support. I was very visible.
• I assigned my student services team members to regularly walk areas of our campus where discipline data showed spikes in incidences throughout the day.
• We trained our classified and certificated staff in how to deescalate and redirect student behavior in-the-moment, rather than relying on administration to intervene.
• We redesigned our lunch and recess periods to include structured, small-sized, student clubs run by caring adults – clubs that interested kids and in which they chose to participate. This alone reduced lunch period discipline reports by 52%. 
• We brought together support teams to quickly address our high-needs students before their behaviors spiraled out of control. These teams intentionally did not include me. I simply assembled the teams and gave them permission to do their jobs. 

Chris attributes his school’s breakthrough in reducing reported discipline incidents to visibility, training, and process. “Just like The Breakthrough Coach preaches,” he said,”I committed myself to working on the system, not in the system, and the results speak for themselves.”