Restorative Justice

 

Los Paseos Restorative Justice and Progressive Discipline Practices: Discipline as a teachable opportunity. 

 

Restorative justice empowers students to resolve conflicts on their own and in small groups, and it's a growing practice at schools around the country. The idea is to bring students together in peer-mediated small groups to talk, ask questions, and air their grievances.
 
Progressive discipline uses incremental interventions to address inappropriate behavior with the end goal of teaching productive and pro-social skills and behaviors. 
 
At Los Paseos, our goal in utilizing a combination of these evidence-based practices is the prevention of the recurrence of negative behaviors by empowering our students to learn from their mistakes. Our aim in postvention is to help students who have engaged in inappropriate or harmful behaviors to: 
 
  • Understand what they have done, through a lens of empathy 
  • Understand why their actions were inappropriate
  • Understand and acknowledge the harm and impact of their choices  
  • Take responsibility for their actions 
  • Understand what they could have done differently in the same situation 
  • Be given opportunities to learn productive social strategies and skills to use in the future 
  • Finally, understand the progression of more stringent consequences if the behavior recurs 
 
Determining the Response 
 
When considering the most appropriate disciplinary response, Principal Stewart and Assistant Principal Sutton consider the following:
  • The nature, severity, and scope of the behavior 
  • The student’s age and maturity 
  • The circumstances/context in which the conduct occurred 
  • The frequency and duration of the behavior 
  • The student’s disciplinary records 
  • The student's IEP and/or 504 Accommodation Plan, if applicable. 
 
If you have any questions regarding our behavior response plan, never hesitate to reach out to Principal Stewart or AP Sutton: at (408) 201-6420.