Restorative Justice Using Restorative Practices: Strengthening Relationships institute, which will be held July 31–August 2. In this three-day experience, we will explore the engagement of restorative practice as a focus on building community through the power of circles, looking at classrooms as communities, co-creating agreements, engaging authentic presence and communication with the emphasis on relationships, understanding, and empathizing in community.
For years, schools have been faced with finding different solutions to dealing with behavioral issues that will inevitably occur. Historically, the way of dealing with these issues in schools very much mirrors our criminal justice system which includes, identifying the issue, determining who the victim and perpetrator are, and determining and delivering appropriate punishment for the perpetrator based on the severity of the situation. While some may argue that this approach is effective, others may suggest that the punitive nature ignores any learning that might take place and doesn’t even factor in the experience of the victim and how they move on.
That is where the Restorative Justice Using Restorative Practices: Strengthening Relationships institute will come into play. In this experience, we move from one and done behavior support to growth and reflection on a continuum within community. This institute will center a reciprocal practice which engages the practitioner and circle facilitator as well as the participants of the circle in practical application scenarios and reflection. Anyone working in youth centered, human service, education and/or non-profit space should attend this institute.
CLICK HERE for hotel discounts for the Restorative Justice Institute.
WATCH A VIDEO FROM LAST YEAR’S RJ INSTITUTE AND HEAR FROM PARTICIPANTS
Dr. AnaMaria Correa is a longtime administrative leader in arts and school spaces for the work of equity, access & joy. She has been BFS’ Director of Diversity, Equity, and Belonging since 2021, and is an all-school senior leadership team member. In 2023, she facilitated BFS’ first institute. Before arriving at BFS, AnaMaria served as Miami City Ballet’s Chief Community Engagement Officer. In her role, AnaMaria bridged, deepened and cultivated relationships between MCB and the arts, culture, education and local communities ensuring that constituencies have access to, and claim a place for themselves, at MCB. In her role as a “bridge builder” she is also a “conscience raiser,” leading efforts of equity and inclusion practices and competencies for the organization. In her previous role as the director of community engagement and inclusion at Avenues: The World School, she spearheaded the practice of community engagement ethics and program partnerships as well as being the founding DEI practitioner establishing cultural competency strategies for an inclusive school community. At Ballet Hispanico she held a dual role as the senior director of community engagement and the director for their accredited school of dance. AnaMaria earned her Ph.D in Urban Education from City University of New York, her MFA from Brooklyn College, her BA from Hunter College, and her AA from Queensborough Community College.
Carlette has experience working with Queer and Trans adolescents and adults in recovery, and with co-occurring disorders including eating disorders, alcoholism, and substance use. She has worked with social workers of color navigating boundaries in their relationships and clients who live with depression, anxiety, and first generation Black, Indigenous, People of Color navigating their sexuality, and gender identity. Carlette joined the Center for Justice Innovation, formerly Center for Court Innovation in 2016, and currently is a clinical supervisor at Manhattan Justice Opportunities, Misdemeanor alternative sentencing, a project of the Center where she oversees the clinical practices and restorative justice programming along with supervising a team of intake specialists, case managers, social workers, and restorative justice facilitators.
Nitya is the Head of Middle School at BFS. The majority of Nitya’s professional years have been in education and administration. Before arriving at BFS, she was most recently the Dean of Students for 7th & 8th grades at The Packer Collegiate Institute. Nitya is an English teacher at heart and a huge fan of Young Adult Fiction. She is an avid biker and can be seen zipping around the streets of Brooklyn (and sometimes Manhattan) on her Surly—very often with her daughter, Harlow, in tow. She received her BS from SUNY Fredonia, her MS from SUNY Fredonia, and her MS.Ed from Teachers College Columbia University.
Suzanne became Milton Academy’s first director of restorative practices in December 2020. She joined Milton in 2006 as the upper school’s interfaith chaplain and a dorm parent after spending five years teaching religion at a day school in Dallas, Texas. Suzanne’s academic and professional training are in the fields of philosophy and religious studies. She holds a master of divinity degree from Harvard University and is currently completing a second master’s degree in restorative justice from Vermont Law School. In her two decades as an independent school educator, Suzanne has taught courses in world religions, philosophy, English, and ethics, served as a mentor to new employees, and still coaches swimming and diving. In her current position, she focuses on implementing restorative justice principles and practices into Milton’s school culture through training employees and students, designing professional development programming, assessing and adding restorative elements to workplace policies, reviewing the school’s discipline process, responding to bias incidents, and facilitating dialogues centered on conflict resolution and problem-solving.
I love the fact that we are able show up who we are as we are as human beings and also as educators and community members to really think about restorative practices in our lives and in our schools.
Johára Tucker, Chief of Equity and Belonging, The Dalton School
