RH Journey

Context:

During the 2017-2018 school year and given the growing diversity of the Rush-Henrietta Central School District student body and community, we accepted the need to do more to address the important connections among culture, teaching and learning. We believe that we must ensure that our programs and learning environments promote equity and inclusion. Specifically, we need to measure the degree to which we promote inclusive, supportive learning environments where all students and staff feel accepted and included, where students see their cultures and experiences represented throughout the district’s curriculum and programs, and where all students have access to academic experiences that fully challenge their potential. Thus, a district priority titled Equity and Inclusion was developed and adopted.

We felt in order to strengthen equitable and inclusive learning environments; we needed to explore the use of Restorative Practices as additional strategies along with our Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) Framework. After much research on the benefits of Restorative Practices, we believe that the principles of these practices are key to helping us achieve our goal of strengthening positive school culture and the enhancement of pro-social relationships within the school community.

In 2017-2018, Restorative Practices was piloted in two buildings: Senior High School and the Webster Learning Center. The district partnered with Partners in Restorative Initiatives (PIRI) and provided 3-day community building trainings on three occasions for a total of fifty-four (54) staff members. Each staff trained was provided with a book titled The Little Book of Restorative Discipline for Schools and schools with trained staff received a resource book titled Circle Forward, Building a Restorative Community. The expectation of the staff trained were to implement what they have learned, share successes and struggles with peers, and provide feedback whether this is a journey we needed to continue to embark on. It was evident to us that Restorative Practices should be implemented district-wide. Many of the staff members trained expressed that RP training was one of the best professional developments they have attended in years. Another commented that RP strategies “transformed my classroom.”

In 2018-2019, the focus was to ensure that we had at least 10 staff members from every building across the district trained. We felt that this was an important step and the foundation for ensuring sustainable implementation of Restorative Practices district-wide. Ever since, we have been continuing to work toward ensuring that all of our staff receive the training.

The principles of Restorative Practices are the building of community and the development and honoring of relationships. Overall, these principles align with our district vision statement of safe and supportive learning environments.

When we conducted an activity with our district Restorative Practice Leadership team, secondary assistant principals, and elementary principals asking why they believe we have embarked on this journey of Restorative Practices and what they see as the benefits of the implementation of this in Rush-Henrietta. During this process and with all of the groups, common themes emerged.

All groups came to consensus that Restorative Practices provide a voice for students and adults; builds and strengthens relationships, builds community, helps to repair and restore harm, promotes inclusivity, empowers students and provides opportunity for student leadership, enhances academic engagement, helps to create a sense of belonging and trust, and connect well with our PBIS framework.

Thus, we believe the implementation of Restorative Practices in Rush-Henrietta will:

• help strengthen and further foster meaningful, healthy relationships among all staff and students;

• increase a sense of inclusion rather than tolerance for staff and students;

• promote community cohesiveness and connectedness;

• support the social-emotional well-being of all;

• promote academic achievement and engagement of all students;

• help decrease discipline disparities;

• help increase the engagement of students and families in time of conflict; and

• help increase and promote the understanding of our differences; and promote accountability and two-way communication.

Through the activity, the groups identified other benefits of the implementation of Restorative Practices that they may use in their sharing with others who are not yet trained and/or with families.

• Builds mutual trust/respect

• Promotes creativity, flexibility

• Strategies for Tier 2 and 3 interventions

• Preserves dignity and relationships of all people

• Builds collaboration

• Presumes positive intentions and outcomes

• Preventative

• Builds equality in the classroom or in the school setting

• Teaches social skills and appropriate behaviors

• Provide better support for students from various backgrounds, cultures and experiences

• Promotes self-regulation

Summary:

We will be doing things as a community, with each other, not To each other, not For each other. As in the words of Helen Keller, “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.”