“Restorative Justice promotes values and principles that are inclusive, collaborative approaches for being in community.  These approaches validate the experiences and needs of everyone within the community, particularly those who have been marginalized, oppressed, or harmed.” These approaches allow us to act and respond in ways that are healing rather than alienating or coercive (Amstutz & Mullet, 2015).  NUSD utilizes the following restorative practices to build community and repair harm for both students and adults.

• Community Building Circles – provide both students and adults an opportunity to foster relationships, create bonds and build community. The process involves students sitting in a circle, an opening ceremony, talking piece, facilitator or circle keeper, values and guidelines, a centerpiece, consensus/decision-making (depending on the circle) and a closing ceremony.
• Restorative Conversations – are quick informal conversations utilized to resolve a conflict when harm is caused. Restorative language is used to get to the root of the behavior, repair the harm and restore the relationship versus placing blame or shaming the participants.
• Circles to Repair Harm – allows the victim to have a say when they are harmed, the offender to take responsibility for their behavior and the community to create conditions so that people are not harmed.