Listening, Learning, and Accountability: How NYC Schools and Youth Centers are Using Restorative Justice to Help the Next Generation Succeed
By Carla Sinclair, Senior Communications Associate, and Nathalie Lebrón, Senior Policy Associate
From elementary school to high school to afterschool college prep, these organizations in the Community-Based Restorative Justice Initiative are using a restorative justice framework to set youth up for success. Through better communication, an emphasis on accountability, and a deepening sense of community, these schools and centers are bringing both kids and adults together to create a safer, more supportive city.
When you first walk into the Kingsbridge Heights Community Center (KHCC) on a weekday night, the first thing you notice is the sounds. Kids laughing, adults chatting, music playing, the sound of a basketball hitting a court. Then there’s the many colors: the walls are lined with hand-drawn pictures on brightly colored posterboard, advertising SAT prep, upcoming events, and quotes about Hispanic Heritage Month.
KHCC, off the 1 train in the Bronx, has been a community stable since the 1970s. Converted from an old police precinct, it now serves the community in a different way: providing services and support to people of all ages, from early childhood to afterschool college prep to classes for English for Speakers of Other Language (ESOL) learners. There’s also a community garden out back, complete with a beehive.
Throughout all its programs is a core tenet: restorative justice. Restorative justice (RJ) is a method of addressing harm that centers accountability; it’s a form of mediated communication that engages both the person who caused harm as well as care and restitution to the person harmed by it. It can also be done proactively, preventing harm from arising in the first place by bringing people together, strengthening community relationships, and giving the tools to communicate and resolve conflict. This can be done through facilitated one-on-one or group conversations, activities, or other forms.
Restorative justice (RJ) is a method of addressing harm that centers accountability; it’s a form of mediated communication that engages both the person who caused harm as well as care and restitution to the person harmed by it.
It can also be done proactively, preventing harm from arising in the first place by bringing people together, strengthening community relationships, and giving the tools to communicate and resolve conflict.
But according to Javon Treherne, KHCC’s College Directions Coordinator and Restorative Justice Supervisor, it’s become less of a conflict-resolution tool and more as a part of everyday life.
“Instead of it being something that we use for conflict and peer-to-peer mediation, it's more an overall form of communication, a way to bring the community together,” he said.
Supporting Youth and Education through the Community-Based Restorative Justice Initiative
Since 2024, KHCC has been one of 16 grantees in the citywide Community-Based Restorative Justice Program (CBRJ). A partnership between the NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice and CUNY ISLG, CBRJ was created to help grassroots organizations incorporate and/or strengthen restorative justice principles in their services.
Through the program, CUNY ISLG provides tailored technical assistance to the grantees, from guidance on mitigating risk to collecting and analyzing data that measures their impact. And while many may associate restorative justice with punitive or court-based programs, many CBRJ partners are using it as a framework for trust-based and youth services, from elementary to high school and afterschool programming.
PS 125: Community, Support, and SUccess through Restorative Justice
Over in Morningside Heights, PS 125 The Ralph Bunche School has imbued restorative justice into every classroom. An elementary school serving 271 kids, it’s one of the most diverse in the city. It’s also a Title I school, with more than 60 percent of students living below the poverty line. Through restorative justice approaches—used by everyone from Pre-K students holding “talking sticks” during circle time to mediating conflicts between teachers—they have fostered a tight-knit community where the staff know each child and their parents by name.
Through CBRJ, PS 125 partnered with the Morningside Center for Social Responsibility to partake in a curriculum that trained dozens of educators across the school district on implementing restorative justice practices tailored to the priorities and goals of each school—a process that staff developer Marieke van Woerkom adapts down to the needs of each teacher in each classroom.
Principal Yael Leopold describes it as a “co-created vision of belonging, inclusivity, and social justice” that provides a foundation for learning that keeps the school running smoothly and its students succeeding—and earning high test scores.
“When you commit to this work over time, it boosts academics. There is intentional work from staff to ensure students' growth,” Leopold said. “The idea that success happened by chance is untrue.”
“When you commit to this work over time, it boosts academics. There is intentional work from staff to ensure students' growth.”
- PS 125 Principal Yael Leopold
Bronx Lab and Bronx Aerospace High School: Giving Students the Tools to Solve Conflict while Emphasizing Accountability and Safety
In the East Bronx, Bronx Lab High School has been incorporating restorative justice into its educational programming for 10 years. Through CBRJ, they have partnered with Dare to Revitalize Education thru Arts and Mediation (DREAM!) to strengthen its use in conflict resolution, through mediated sessions and classes, among other programs.
Restorative justice as a conflict resolution tool has gained a reputation as “soft” to some crowds. To Bronx Lab Assistant Principal Nilda Dontaine, who has championed its use for the past decade, restorative justice is about both discipline and humanity, giving students and staff a framework to productively acknowledge mistakes and work toward solutions.
“Restorative justice is about accountability. People assume that when talking about RJ, you are no longer talking about discipline. We are,” she said. “It's about building your skills to follow a structure and follow through on basic assumptions that are positive about human beings and mankind. It's all about seeing how you harmed someone, and how to fix it. At its core, it’s accountability.
“It takes a lot for students to trust others, especially in conflict. The fairness class sets a foundation. We’re teaching that everyone can make mistakes without feeling like we are less than.”
“It's all about seeing how you harmed someone, and how to fix it. At its core, it’s accountability.”
- Bronx Lab Assistant Principal Nilda Dontaine
This reminder that everyone is human—and that inherent in humanity is making mistakes, but also the capacity for compassion, communication, and healing—is something that can “seep into their being” and become something students use throughout their lives beyond school, said R. Drita Perkolaj, a Dean/Peer Collaborative Teacher at Bronx Aerospace High School, which also works with DREAM!.
“These practices teach kids that it's okay to be pissed, it’s okay to be upset, and it’s okay to not get along with someone. But you have to respect them,” Perkolaj said. “They're a person and they’re navigating the world, just like you are. Restorative justice programming in school is important for kids because it gives an alternative to how some of them are used to resolving conflict.”
Kingsbridge Heights Community Center: Bridging Differences through listening
Back at KHCC, young adults are the ones leading that work. Through a training program, a cohort of college-age RJ Fellows leads restorative justice circles for other youth as well as in adult programming.
Greyx, one of these RJ Fellows, started coming to KHCC’s afterschool programming in seventh grade after immigrating to the US from the Dominican Republic. There are a lot of stories like hers within KHCC: some come from other countries, some from other corners of the Bronx, and some from just around the corner. Greyx credited KHCC's services—and the restorative justice approaches—with helping everyone listen to each other despite their varied backgrounds.
“A lot of our kids come from different kinds of homes, from different cultures. They come from different beliefs. And these restorative justice circles are the only safe place where they can really talk without being judged,” she said. “Not judging is a hard thing to do. Sometimes we do it without even realizing it because we are not familiar with that behavior or belief. Because of our culture, because of the people we hang out with, because where we work, where we go to school.”
Or as another KHCC RJ Fellow, Hamlet, put it, “It's normal to feel mad. We just gotta find a reason why you're mad, and we can try to solve that.”
The experiences across CBRJ partners make clear how important it is to give these tools to youth and young adults. The restorative justice framework teaches us to listen to each other, respect each other, and rely on communication, rather than anger or violence, to resolve and heal from conflicts. And more than a few times, it was also clear this didn’t just apply to students. Principals, assistant principals, teachers, program supervisors, and aides across CBRJ schools and organizations reported being able to use these skills to communicate with each other and students better.
When people don’t have this framework, it can lead to tragedy.
“Sometimes I imagine if I had something like this when I was younger. I would have friends that are still alive,” said Treherne, KHCC’s RJ Supervisor. “I would have friends who wouldn't be in jail. I would have friends who, instead of running away, faced their fears and actually had those conversations.
“But the fact is that our youth need to be able to express themselves, and the community needs leaders to help them learn how to express themselves.
That’s where restorative justice comes in.”- Javon Treherne, KHCC Restorative Justice Supervisor
“A lot of people are even fearful to approach our youth. And you know what? I get why,” he said. “But the fact is that our youth need to be able to express themselves, and the community needs leaders to help them learn how to express themselves. That’s where restorative justice comes in.”
Photo Cavan for Adobe on Adobe Stock.