Restorative Practices Roundup: 5 Leaders, 5 Stories
by Baltimore City Public Schools | 10.6.21
Leaders in Baltimore City Public Schools have been working to implement restorative practices throughout the district.
Over the past several years, Baltimore City Public Schools has been working to transform schools and communities by fully implementing restorative practices (RP).
As leader Karen Webber puts it, RP has been a primary tool in working to end the school-to-prison pipeline, advocating for students in crisis and reducing arrests and suspensions across the city – and RP has “become increasingly important as a tool for educators who are struggling to meet the educational and social-emotional needs of children surviving a pandemic.”
Principal Project partnered with five leaders and educators to shine a spotlight on the work happening in Baltimore and point the way toward resources that might support your own RP implementation.
Explore the following 5 blog posts to consider what restorative practices could mean for your school community.
1. How restorative practices are transforming Baltimore City Public Schools – and where to start in your school community, by Karen Webber
Find four communications strategies to guide restorative work in your school community: circles, affective statements, restorative questions and formal restorative conferences.
2. Want more culturally responsive instruction? Start with restorative practices, by Wyatt Oroke
How restorative practices shift teachers’ pedagogical understanding – and foster a culturally responsive, anti-racist approach to students, families and communities.
3. 3 pillars for building a restorative practices culture, by Malik Muhammad
Three strategies for rooting restorative practices within your existing school culture, including tapping leaders across the staff as “champions.“
4. How to get all-staff buy-in on restorative practices, by Brandon Pinkney
Four steps to building a staff-wide investment in a school culture shift, with a focus on modeling and investing in the journey of your staff before rolling out RP with students.
5. In 18 years of being a principal, implementing restorative practices is the most valuable thing I’ve done, by Matt Hornbeck
A school leader answers frequently asked questions about restorative practices, shares results you can expect and offers a resource list for getting started.