Departments

Restorative Practices Program

Restorative Practices at SPS

This page is for students, families, and staff who seek more information about restorative practices and how these practices are contributing to the culture of Seattle Public Schools and the greater Seattle community.

This digital mural by local artist Mari Shibuya reflects an early Restorative Program Team session from the 2021-2022 school year.
This digital mural by local artist Mari Shibuya reflects an early Restorative Program Team session from the 2021-2022 school year.

Restorative Spotlight

A space to share stories, successes, and learnings from across the district. Send us a story we should spotlight!

Inaugural Community Partner & Seattle Public Schools Visioning Event at Garfield High School

Following a landscape analysis at the end of the 21-22 school year that sought to learn about restorative practices around the SPS District, the Restorative Team partnered with WA-BLOC Huayruro, Solutions by Cadenas, CCS Unlimited, The Roots of Us, DEEL and others to host a community gathering of restorative practitioners from the Seattle area.

The hope for this gathering was to connect, to strengthen the restorative community supporting the students and families in SPS and to form a collective understanding of restorative practices so that students throughout the city have a cohesive experience related to restorative practices and community harmony.

Angela Davis quote
Restorative practices program team at the re-visioning event

Events & Training Opportunities

Recurring Events & Training Opportunities

women sitting next to candles in the shape of a heart

Homicide Healing Circles

Second Friday of the month at 6-7:30 p.m.

Meeting Info:
Zoom Meeting ID: 827 5412 1737
Passcode: 416054

Angela M. Davis
ccsunlimited4@gmail.com
206-214-8236

Huayruro logo

Community Circles

Held monthly

Next Meeting: Monday, February 27 at 6:30-8:45 p.m.

Community Circles are a place to sit with others and explore a topic using the Circle process. It is a great opportunity to experience Circle, whether it is your first time or you are revisiting after many times.

The Root of Us logo

Sisterhood Self Care Series

Saturdays at 3:30-5:30 p.m.

Weekly Community Event for Black and Brown Sisterhood and their family and friends.

Hosted by The Root Of Us

The Root of Us logo

Brotherhood Self Care Series

Thursdays at 6-7:30 p.m.

This series is designed for Black identifying Youth, Young Adults and Men of Color to build community and heal together.

Hosted by The Root Of Us

The Root of Us logo

Racial Healing Circles

Sundays at 11:30 a.m.

Brave space for intentional conversations about race with folks of all races! Join the full 6 week Series of Racial Healing.

Cost: $10-100

Hosted by The Root Of Us

Resolutions Northwest

Self-Guided Online Courses

Online modules to learn at your own pace and alleviate scheduling conflicts.

Cost: Varies

Hosted by Resolutions Northwest


Resources for Restorative Practices

The resources below are intended to provide you with a range of tools and strategies to support your efforts of strengthening the restorative presence at your school. Gradually, with perseverance, Seattle Public Schools will become a restorative district where all young people may experience community harmony at the center of their learning endeavor and each school will foster a restorative culture in their school community.

The following resources are organized into two groups:

  • Examples and materials that are specifically connected to SPS schools and their restorative practice and justice activity.
  • General examples and general information related to restorative practices and justice.

*Note: These resources are intended to supplement training and ongoing practices that reflect a restorative culture (or aspiring culture) in your school community. They are not intended to be used as “restorative” responses to a situation in a culture that lacks community connection and belonging.

SPS Restorative Training from TRI-Days – This is a collection of videos that captured many layers of restorative activity from all-district training days from 2016.

Cleveland HS STEM Discipline Flowchart – This example comes from Cleveland High School identifies considerations that could inform how to respond to behaviors that have caused harm to the community in order to reach a restorative focused outcome.

Beacon Hill International Restorative Questions Card – This example from Beacon Hill International of a tool from and questions that support engaging with individuals in your school community from a restorative stance.

John Hay Peace Path – This example from John Hay is a worksheet to support students’ efforts to solve conflicts and recognize each other for kind actions.

John Hay Blue Reflection Sheet – This example from John Hay is a worksheet aims to prompt students to reflect on what happened, their feelings and the feelings of others and to find a positive way forward.

Scholar Community Building Brainstorm K-5 – Collection of resources activities, games and questions to build community in K-5 settings. (Generated by Wa-Bloc)

Potential Classroom Examples of Tier 1 Community Building Practices – below is a list of potential classroom community-building practices that can foster the foundation for restoration and community harmony. (Generated by WA-BLOC):

  • Community building games
  • Greeting scholars
  • Saying student’s names correctly
  • Affirmations/recognitions
  • Creating check-in time for standing meetings
  • Co-crafted community agreements/class charter/staff charter
  • Calling families (positive things as well)
  • Showing up for family night/curriculum nights
  • Incorporating student interests/culture in classroom
  • Mindfulness/breathing exercises
  • Using talking piece for class discussion/incorporating circle elements during class time
  • Soliciting student feedback on assignments/having them self evaluate
  • Modeling accountability/normalizing mistakes/humility
  • Using intentional questions to discuss personal and shared values
  • Staff appreciation activities/gestures
  • Follow through
  • Creating structure for kids who need to learn there is consistency/predictability
  • Schedule and class expectations and revisiting those regularly
  • Calm down corners/regulation spaces

Mindful Schools: Restorative Justice in Schools video – an example of a restorative circle

Oakland Unified School District Restorative Justice Implementation Guide – This is a resource to support a Restorative Practice facilitator/coordinator in implementing a school-wide Restorative program at their site. It comes with broader, higher level questions related to principles of RJ and general steps to follow; down to more granular elements that include templates and reflective questions.

San Francisco Unified School District Restorative Practice Principles– A set of principles that reflect the values for implementing restorative practices in SFUSD.


Meet the Restorative Team

Lian Caspi, She/Her/Hers
Restorative Program Manager
lacaspi@seattleschools.org

Jay Upshaw, He/Him/His
Consulting Teacher

Jill Colasurdo, She/Her/Hers
Consulting Teacher

Polo DeCano, He/Him/His
Consulting Teacher

Ryan Healy, He/Him/His
Consulting Teacher

Tricia Hagerty, Sher/Her/Hers
Consulting Teacher

Learn more about the Restorative Team members


Community Organizations and Partners

Digital art with various quotes throughout the design. Some of the quotes are: "what is bringing you peace?", "the work of addressing resistance happens before the circle"
This digital mural by local artist Mari Shibuya reflects community voice about restorative practices in the Spring of the 2021-2022 school year.

The SPS Restorative Team recognizes that while the school district has a meaningful footprint and reach, this work is inherently about community-building and partnership. Further, there are others who have been leading this body of work in the Seattle area and in Seattle schools with whom, only in partnership, will the SPS Restorative Team achieve its aims to foster a restorative culture throughout Seattle Public Schools.

Learn more about the community organizations and how they are showing up for SPS.


Feedback, Suggestions, and Requests

We recognize that we are only our best when our collective wisdom informs what we all experience.

Please fill out this form to share feedback, suggestions and/or requests.

Your information will not be shared unless you decide to share it yourself.