School and classroom leadership · Client

Gateway Middle School

A school that wanted restorative practice to actually hold across the Student Support Office, the classroom, and the culture. We developed the people and built the structures so the school could carry it on its own.

Proves School and classroom leadership

The situation

Gateway Middle School wanted restorative practice to work school-wide, across the Student Support Office, the classroom, and the culture. The hard part with restorative work is making it hold. Without clear roles, shared practices, and feedback loops, it tends to rest on a few committed people and fade the moment they are stretched. Gateway wanted it built into how the school runs.

What we did

This was a develop-first engagement, no software, just people and systems. We worked across four layers at once: the Student Support Office, the teachers, the students, and the admin team. We coached the leaders, trained the staff, brought in student voice, and built the policies and rhythms that let the practice sustain itself.

What we built

The system here was structure rather than a platform. We defined the scope and responsibilities of each Student Support Office role, set the 80/20 model as the core, and built policies and procedures with an examine, refine, and feedback loop so the school could keep improving them without us. That included re-entry procedures, restorative circles, restorative conversations, parent engagement, and teacher communication designed to close the loop rather than leave it open. We also helped shape culture systems using the school's existing tools, Kickboard and Slack, to support community and connection, and gave guidance on an affinity group model.

How we developed the people

Monthly coaching for the Dean of Culture and the Vice Principal. Individual coaching for the teachers who needed the most support, built on classroom observations, a debrief, feedback, and follow-up, with the teacher coach looped in for another layer of support. Synchronous professional development on circles, restorative conversations, mediations, community agreements, and family communication, adjusted to staff needs as we went. Department and grade-level coaching on the trends that actually showed up. And a student listening tour, so the policies were shaped by student voice, alongside analysis of the culture and climate surveys.

Built to last

The whole engagement was built to be handed back. The feedback loops, the role clarity, and the trained staff meant restorative practice did not depend on us being in the building. The Student Support Office and the teachers could run it, and keep refining it, after we left. We revisited the work each quarter to check progress against the goals.

What changed

The school was really pleased with how the work landed. Teachers told us they felt supported, the practice held across the year, and the engagement was reviewed against its goals every quarter.

What we tracked

The engagement set clear, measurable goals and reviewed them every quarter: teacher confidence and competence in restorative practice, staff alignment with the Student Support Office, year-over-year improvement in student behavior, stronger policies shaped by student voice, and fewer students needing to rely on Student Support Office intervention.

Methods

Restorative justice and restorative practices, restorative circles and conversations, mediations, re-entry procedures, community agreements, the 80/20 model, and culture and climate survey analysis.