The Restorative Project aims to co-create and maintain safe, positively connected, inspiring school communities

Whole School Transformation
At-a-Glance

Our partnership is designed to strengthen your school’s capacity to prevent and respond to conflict, to fortify the school community’s relationships (between and among students, parents, faculty, staff, and administrators), and to ensure the faithful implementation of restorative and social-emotional learning systems and practices.

In order to begin the transformation process, a school must have established a moderate level of safety (a majority of community members report feeling safe from emotional and physical harm). If safety hasn't been established, we must first work to interrupt any violence or harm that consistently threatens the community's well-being, and to make small shifts that make a big difference. For example and in no particular order: stopping random loud speaker announcements; muting walkie-talkies when on classroom visits; providing students with agendas replete with transitions ahead of time; establishing consistent classroom entry routines; ensuring that all bathrooms have soap, paper towels and working locks; introducing parents to restorative principles. Once safety is established, we can begin priming the community for the beginning stages of the transformation process.

Whole school transformation necessitates the faithful implementation of restorative and social-emotional practices at the individual, organizational, and systemic level. The shift from a traditional, typically punitive school model to a restorative one requires a period of 3-5 years well spent. Educators, administrators, support service professionals, parents and caregivers, community partners and district personnel all play key roles in the transformation process, as do routines, systems, beliefs, perspectives, and even barriers. The Restorative Project offers an adult-centric, comprehensive approach to whole school transformation based in brain science, compassion, and accountability. ​The "price" of implementation participation must be paid by all, The Restorative Project, included, and is a commitment to:

1. the health + growth of your school community.

2. self-work (working on and improving individual + community beliefs, behaviors + patterns).

3. collective work (being tough on systems, not people, especially children and youth who do not design systems).

4. collective love (high-regard + responsibility for each other and the larger community, even when it’s tough).

6. accountability for how you experience the transformation process.

7. engaging seriously with the transformation process.

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The model school incorporates restorative and proven social-emotional practices at every possible turn—we see a commitment to relationship-building, to minimizing shame, and to cultivating experiences of joy and authentic pride. Discipline codes, school-wide rituals, grading policies, classroom routines and discussions, interactions between school community members, and even the posters we see in a school’s hallways reflect a restorative community's unwavering commitment to its own health and well-being. Restorative communities are equitable and just communities that are committed to treating all their members with dignity and respect; to tending to their relationships with great care; to seeing conflict as an opportunity; and to challenging themselves to be better.

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The Restorative Project appreciates the magnitude of such an undertaking and understands that the resources for managing a successful school-wide restorative practices and SEL implementation plan may not always be available. Because of this, we offer three tiers of support and work closely with school partners to develop a program to suit their specific needs and capabilities.