K-12 Restorative School Practices

K-12 Restorative School Practices, Conflict Resolution Education, and Youth Violence Prevention Services for Maine Schools

NOTE: Between 1996 and 2010, the Peace & Reconciliation Studies Program received funding from the Maine Department of Health & Human Services to offer a wide range of services in K-12 conflict resolution education, peer mediation, youth violence prevention, diversity education, restorative discipline, school climate issues and relational skills, including:

• Partnering with schools to improve school climate and culture through Community Circles and other restorative practices.
• Publishing the Changing Ways Newsletter for Maine educators.
• Offering courses, workshops, institutes and conferences for educators on restorative practices, mediation skills, conflict resolution, and related areas.
• Maintaining a lending library with hundreds of resources on school climate, conflict resolution, peer mediation, bullying, diversity education, peace education, restorative discipline and related topics for all Maine educators.
• Consulting with schools on youth violence prevention issues.

In the Fall of 2010, this funding was terminated due to budget constraints at the state level. However, the programming initiatives in these areas were transferred to Restorative School Practices of Maine, a program of the Restorative Justice Project, Belfast, Maine http://www.rjpmidcoast.org/. This coalition of trainers and facilitators offers training, consultation, information and resources to educators and schools throughout Maine on the restorative approach, restorative discipline and related areas. The links below provide general information on these topics. For more information on Restorative School Practices of Maine, contact Barb Blazej, barb@rjpmidcoast.org, 207-581-2625.

Resources:

• The Restorative Approach & Restorative Discipline
• Community Circles
• A Restorative Justice Framework for Schools (PDF)
• Important Student Lessons from the Restorative Approach
• Comments from Maine Educators on the Restorative Approach
• Changing Ways/Building Skills Newsletter
• Courses/Workshops/Conferences/Institutes
• Restorative School Practices Resources (PDF)
• Data Articles on Restorative School Practices (PDF)
• Peer Mediation Manual for Grades 4-8 (PDF)
• Peer Mediation & School Climate Assessment Forms