MADISON, Wis. -- Sennett Middle School is the only middle school in Madison with security cameras, and officials said the cameras are helping hold down discipline problems there.

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District security officials said Toki Middle School could be the next middle school to get surveillance cameras. Safety and behavior issues there have become top concerns this past school year, WISC-TV reported.

Almost 650 students fill Sennett Middle School, and officials said with that many students, there are bound to be some serious problems.

But Sennett's principal said a combination of surveillance cameras and a so-called "positive behavior support" program has significantly reduced fights and other negative incidents.

There are still big problem areas at the far East Side school. Officials said that Sennett's top three problems right now are physical horseplay in the hallways, classroom insubordination and classroom disruption.

But officials also said that Sennett is making great progress in those and other problem areas thanks to a new district program -- and four cameras in the hallways.

At Sennett, the cameras are always rolling and the students know it. The principal said the cameras "sometimes" deter bad behavior altogether. But Principal Colleen Lodholz said that more often they're a big help in quickly identifying and punishing troublemakers.

"Figuring out who the guilty party is, and helping to hold students accountable for their behavior, which is very important, (are key benefits of security cameras)," Lodholz said.

Lodholz likes the cameras so much she said she plans to add two more per year the next several years.

But her enthusiasm for the cameras pales in comparison to a new district-wide middle school program started this year called Positive Behavior Intervention Support, or PBIS.

"This is very good for kids -- very, very good," Lodholz said.

The PBIS program uses positive behavior support coaches like Sennett's Jennifer Tomlinson. She works with students, teachers and staff to teach positive behavior skills to students.

Often the behavior is rewarded and promoted by the students themselves, through handmade posters or activities aimed at showcasing such behaviors, WISC-TV reported.

Officials said the key is to actually instruct kids how to behave correctly, be it through mediation sessions, classroom instruction or other innovative approaches.

"We need to teach kids how to be accountable for their actions and that's what we're doing through this system," Tomlinson said.

Lodholz said the program helps offer instruction to students on how they should be behave. She said the PBIS program builds upon other Sennett school strategies and that it all seems to be working.

Last year incidents of misconduct at Sennett totaled 1,706, and 1,169 suspensions were handed out.

But in the 2007-08 school year to date, with the cameras and new program, Sennett's seen more than 730 fewer misconduct incidents -- at 973 -- and only 94 suspensions.

Officials said the early results look good and that the strategies are working well for them.

Sennett has a unique "house" system that might be playing a factor as well. It's the only middle school to group sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders under "houses." The students in those groups stay together throughout middle school and foster a smaller school atmosphere. It has been in place at Sennett for more than 30 years.