Principals Engage In Restorative Practices For Professional Development

From Milwaukee Public Schools:

January 8, 2020

MPS is excited to announce that restorative practices professional development for principals took place in January 2020. This supports the district's goal to provide professional development for all district and school-based administrators this school year. Restorative practices have been used in our district since 2006, and this is the first intentional district-wide roll-out.

Restorative practices help individuals value and engage in relationships that foster authenticity and connectedness. When being restorative, we practice holding ourselves and others to a high level of accountability while providing a high level of support, thereby impacting the social and academic success of every student.

“Restorative practices has created a sense of family at GreenTree Preparatory Academy,” said Katrina Fisher, principal at GreenTree Preparatory Academy. “Scholars have begun to support each other both inside and outside the school community. Way to lead, GPA Scholars!”

Training included experiential and collaborative processes, and administrators gained practices they can use immediately.
Some of the learning intentions included:

• Understanding restorative justice versus restorative practices
• Identifying what it means to operate from a restorative lens
• Recognizing how restorative conversations, circles, and other processes can be used to teach, build, and maintain relationships
• Connecting restorative practices with existing MPS programs

“As a product, parent, and employee of MPS who has been using restorative practices with countless students and adults, I am convinced that relationships matter,” said Chauna Perry Finch, restorative practices supervisor for MPS. “In using restorative practices, I have witnessed the direct impact this framework has had on creating cultures where everyone can work through obstacles, build on strengths, and ensure every student succeeds together. This practice has the power to not only change, but save lives. Together, we can!”

This press release was produced by Milwaukee Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.