Restorative Justice OUSD

05/07/2020

Restorative Practices and Community Building

Here is a webinar David Yusem did on using restorative practices to build and maintain positive classroom culture in a virtual world. David coordinates the RJ work at Oakland Unified School District. We are all learning this as we go and figuring out how to do restorative circles, a process which is so personal and relational, without being in each other's physical presence.

Learn how restorative practices can be used to create and maintain school community in a virtual setting. Link to this slideshow is at: https://tinyurl.com/y...

05/06/2020

OUSD APISA Initiative

Since our in-person retreat was postponed due to COVID-19, we are gathering virtually next Monday 3:30! Oakland Asian, Pacific Islander & MENA youth, please join us to connect, build solidarity & meet new friends! We will focus on wellness & tapping into our cultural power during this challenging time. Also, cultural trivia prize giveaways! Registration link —> tinyurl.com/APIMENA #Solidarity #YouthPower #Wellness #CultureIsPower

05/06/2019

OUSD shared our photos from the End of Year Restorative Justice Celebration. We need to celebrate the youth and lift them up as they learn how to be RJ circe keepers.

On Thursday, May 2, OUSD Restorative Justice held its End of Year Celebration where hundreds of student Peer RJ Leaders were honored and received certificates of achievement.

"Circle and Fist" awards were also handed out to the individuals and groups who stood up for RJ at the Board of Education and City Council meetings. "We have been through some battles together this year, but we will live to see another school year as we shift the culture of the school district and dismantle the school to prison pipeline," said OUSD RJ Coordinator, David Yusem.

04/16/2019

Oakland Education Association

Come out support the City Council in providing funding for us to continue doing RJ in OUSD.

Our strike showed all of Oakland that OUSD has not prioritized supports for our students, instead favoring high-priced consultants and central office administrators. We raised-up the unmet needs of our students, and we opposed ANY cuts to student supports.

During our strike, we engaged in conversations with the Mayor and City Council leadership about City funding for Restorative Justice and other supports. We have continued to advocate for City funding since the strike.

Therefore,we are grateful to Councilmembers Rebecca Kaplan, Nikki Fortunato Bas, Sheng Thao and Noel Gallo for their resolution before the City Council this evening to use $1.2 million in City funds for Restorative Justice, Foster Youth and Libraries - much-needed programs for Oakland students.

The City Council meeting starts at 5pm at City Hall - please come out to support this resolution, or send public comment in support here: http://bit.ly/OakCouncilRJ

#Unite4OaklandKids

03/07/2019

We want to clarify that we are very happy to see that RJ was written into the OEA/OUSD agreement for the first time ever. This is an historic
moment that will help create a sustainable model for RJ in Oakland schools in spite of the budget cuts. We will find a way to coach and support the teachers we train. Hopefully philanthropists and organizations will take seriously the part about new funds coming into the district being prioritized to RJ and other programs such as PBIS, foster youth services, and API student achievement. The district would not agree to the language originally brought forth by OEA. Teachers + RJ = happy and safe school community.

03/04/2019

Let the healing begin...

03/02/2019

This is language from the tentative agreement between OUSD and OEA teachers Union. You can see that funding RJ was struck from the agreement. Instead they write that teachers should receive RJ training once a year or on Wednesday afternoons. Anyone who knows anything about RJ can tell you that training must be extensive, ongoing, and followed by coaching support done in a relational manner. The more you know about RJ, the less you know. Glad there is an agreement, but RJ is now left vulnerable to deep and devastating budget cuts.

03/01/2019

Kamala Harris shows us some love. Thank you for supporting restorative justice in Oakland schools.

02/13/2019

Acclaimed restorative justice program on the chopping block in Oakland Unified

Stand up for RJ. Write emails to the OUSD board of education. Our movement is threatened. #believeinrj #standwithstudents

Students and advocates are loudly protesting a plan to significantly cut staff from the popular initiative, which emphasizes alternatives to punitive discipline approaches like suspension and expulsion.

01/18/2019

A Restorative Justice documentary

A Restorative Justice documentary

Since Ralph Bunche continuation high school, featured in A Restorative Justice documentary, implemented #restorativejustice, there have been:

No Suspensions
No Expulsions
And No Violent Student Altercations

Graduation rates went from 68% to 92%.

And yet, multiple members of the school board and others are calling for cuts to the already underfunded restorative justice program.

"It's about the adults making some agreements and commitments to each other that they are actually going to do the work. And I mean the work with one another. It is a very critcal moment inside of Oakland right now, because we are talking about right-sizing the district. There are real conversations from people that are your colleagues and friends in the system that are sayiang we can cut the restorative justice stuff. There are board members that say we want to cut those things because it costs."

- Jumoke Hinton Hodge, Vice President, School Board, Oakland Unified School District

"In California you have over 2 million public school students that are achieving below grade level in reading and math and science. The philosophy is, if you want to kill a tree, you kill the root. If you want to kill a race of people you kill a child."

- Oscar Wright, 95-year-old Veteran & Social Justice Warrior

* RJ has been at OUSD since 2006 and now OUSD is considered an National leader and pioneer in this work.

* OUSD has the most robust RJ organizational structure in the US. Other districts look to OUSD to learn how to implement RJ.

* RJ Facilitators are all SEIU 1.0 FTE staff. Central RJ staff are 1.0 FTE UAOS. They are not outside professionals.

* Each year 300-400 youth across the district are trained to do circles to build community and respond to harm/conflict. RJ Facilitators lead these trainings

* Funding from the School Board is crucial to the operation of RJ in the district. It helps us leverage other funds (grants, donations)

* RJ supports social and emotional learning which in turn allows students to engage, learn, achieve, and graduate

* RJ, along with other innovative strategies like the Office of Equity, PBIS, SEL, Trauma informed work are the backbone for engaged learning and have been responsible for the sharp decline in exclusionary discipline among other positive effects at OUSD.

Come see the film and participate in the dialgoue at our upcoming screenings in Oakland (www.circlesmovie.com. On Facebook: A Restorative Justice documentary)

#circlesmovie
#circlessavelives
#restorativepractices

David Yusem
Nina Senn
Eric Butler
Melody Davis
Awele Makeba
Becca Vershbow
City of Oakland - Local Government
McClymonds High School Youth & Family Center
McClymonds High School

12/02/2018

RT en Español

One day we will welcome our presidents with indigenous ritual like this. It may not seem like it now, but it will happen.

López Obrador se dirige a miles de mexicanos en el Zócalo https://es.rt.com/6dmp

10/10/2018

Edna Brewer middle school in Oakland is rocking restorative justice. Building community and responding to harm

ICYMI: In September, the Edna Brewer Middle School Black Boys Brotherhood led by Mr. Gibson, RJ Coordinator, hosted a circle with Oakland Police Department officers and attorney Eric Broyles, author of Encounters with Police: A Black Man's Guide to Survival.

In the circle, Brotherhood members learned how to survive encounters with officers and came away with de-escalation tools and strategies and ways to "comply now, contest later."

07/25/2018

Nia Wilson

05/15/2018

The rise of restorative justice in California schools brings promise, controversy

Check out this article and video on the RJ work Tatiana Chaterji is doing at Fremont High in Oakland.

Many tout the practice as a groundbreaking alternative to zero-tolerance policies and a way to alleviate discipline disparities, while some say it's being oversold as a quick fix.

03/31/2018

Inside California Education

The RJ initiative at OUSD is featured in this short video. Check out our work at REACH elementary.

Schools in the Oakland Unified School District are taking an innovative approach to discipline. It's called Restorative Justice OUSD, and it brings together the victim and offender. It's also a way to build community among students through "talking circles," singing and mindfulness exercises.

03/25/2018

Democracy Now!

Listen to the youth. Edna Chavez calls for Restorative Justice at the March for our Lives rally.

South Los Angeles high school student Edna Chavez addressed hundreds of thousands of protesters today at the March For Our Lives in D.C.: "I've learned to duck from bullets before I learned how to read."

11/21/2017

Restoring Schools

The Coordinator of the OUSD RJ program, David Yusem, is interviewed along with other RJ practitioners in this video from the Teachers' Democracy Project.

11/16/2017

email : Webview : It's Restorative Justice Day in OUSD

We celebrated RJ Day in Oakland schools yesterday.

11/15/2017

Closing thumb circle at the OUSD RJ training tonight on using games and movement in circle. Celebrating National RJ week. Oakland Unified School District #nationalrjweek.

11/01/2017

Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Asian Law Caucus

ICE is detaining members of the Cambodian community in America. In justice against one is injustice against all. The Asian Law Caucus is filing a class action lawsuit on their behalf. Make no mistake ICE = Fascism in America.

LIVE: We're getting ready to announce a nationwide class action lawsuit with Asian Americans Advancing Justice - Los Angeles challenging recent ICE raids on the Cambodian community. #RefugeeResilience

09/09/2017

#unafraidousd Oakland Unified School District undocumented students and families are safe and loved in OUSD. Oakland Unified is a sanctuary district. We are all human and connected.

09/06/2017

Bringing Sanctuary to the Classroom: OUSD Educator Convening

This is an important event. Looking for circle keepers to help out. OUSD is a safe place for Dreamers.

Bringing Sanctuary to the Classroom is a convening by Oakland educators, for Oakland educators who are prepared to stand up with our families and empower our students to be allies for each other. This event will include: Keynote Speaker: Artist Favianna Rodriguez Restorative Justice circles for teac...

06/19/2017

Restorative Justice OUSD

06/19/2017

Restorative Justice OUSD's cover photo

06/19/2017

Peer RJ leaders from Castlemont High in East Oakland explain the impact restorative justice has had on their lives. Castlemont High School

05/19/2017

Alliance Academy

Peer RJ leaders at Alliance Academy get recognized for supporting restorative justice at their school in Oakland Unified School District. 300 students across the district acknowledged for RJ at the 2nd Annual Peer RJ Celebration.

We don't stop at Alliance! Some of our Peer RJ Leaders get their certificates of appreciation!

04/08/2017

www.ousd.org

Check this out. Josh Staub and Ni'mat Grace Shaheed empowering their students with restorative mentoring. Lifting up the positive. Alliance Academy Reach Academy Oakland Unified School District

Restorative Mentoring is a unique pilot program in which middle school mentors from Alliance Academy visit nearby Reach Academy to model the practice of restorative justice (RJ) and build community during recess and lunchtime.

01/14/2017

From student RJ leaders at Frick Impact Academy.

01/04/2017

After the Pain, a Chance to Meet and Forgive

People harmed by crime have questions only the person responsible can answer. Oakland Unified School District

A prison program in Kansas allowed the parents of a college student killed by a drunken driver to meet the man who had upended their lives.

12/28/2016

Microsoft Scholarship: Open to undocumented students

https://mydocumentedlife.org/2016/10/14/2017-microsoft-scholarship-open-to-undocumented-students/

By CAROLINA VALDIVIA Microsoft recently opened this year’s scholarship opportunity, which seeks to encourage students to pursue studies in Computer Science and related STEM (Science, Technolo…

12/17/2016

Students in the Education and Community Health Pathway at Skyline high school learned Restorative Justice as an industry standard. Here they are celebrating after a classroom circle ending the semester.

12/15/2016

Yesterday at our RJ Facilitator professional learning community we learned how to support immigrant and undocumented students and their families. We also discussed how to support Muslim and Arabic speaking students in the current political environment. It will take all of us working together to fight against white supremacy and fascism in the halls of power.

12/07/2016

Dear Mr. Trump

Watch Oakland youth at Melrose Leadership Academy tell Trump how it is. Oakland Unified School District Restorative Justice OUSD

This video came about when we had to write letters to our next President, Donald Trump. I thought it would be a brilliant idea to combine our two eighth grad...

11/19/2016

The OUSD Executive Cabinet in circle processing the elections and building relationships with each other. OUSD RJ staff Arnoldo Garcia and David Yusem are the Circle keepers. Superintendent Antwan Wilson took the photo.

As Restorative Justice Week comes to a close, OUSD Executive Cabinet members share in circle. This healing process is practiced in many of our classrooms and is facilitating release of feelings and fears associated with the recent election. #iamOUSD

11/16/2016

OUSD Celebrating 10 years of healing with restorative justice

The Superintendent gives OUSD RJ a shout out in his "From the Desk" letter