Students and staff have been working as a classroom community to develop norms around behaviors that show a student is ready to learn. There will be a continued focus on instruction that provides students with an understanding about what it looks like, feels like, and sounds like to be respectful, responsible, and ready.

Based on results from student, staff, and family surveys at the end of the 2018-2019 school year, we have made some adjustments to last year’s management system to better reflect the needs of the SFES community. In order to have a comprehensive program of support, our student behavior management system will include elements from PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports), Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum, and Restorative Justice.

Restorative Culture is a philosophy that emphasizes building relationships. When there is a need to repair harm caused by conflict and wrongdoing, restorative culture provides an opportunity for everyone impacted by an incident to come together in a safe space to address their feelings and needs, and reach a resolution that heals and restores relationships.

Restorative Practices build healthy relationships between students and school staff, as well as among adults within the school community; support students’ healthy social and emotional development; create safe spaces for difficult conversations, deep emotions and healing; shift the focus from intervention to prevention of disciplinary infractions; and shift the paradigm from punitive to restorative disciplinary practices. This year at SFES we will continue to focus on the use of Restorative Conversations when conflict occurs. This informal dialogue will use restorative language to resolve conflict and will be guided through the use of “The Big Five Questions.” Below are the questions that will be used with students.

The Big Five Questions

From your point of view, what happened?

What were you thinking at the time?

How have others been affected?

What would you like to have happen next?

What feelings or needs are still with you?