JUST ICE ISN’ T BLIND
Continued from page 15
We are in the business of helping students
self-regulate, develop empathy, and take
responsibility when their actions or words
harm others. Over the past four years, it
hasn’t been easy, and yet, it has been tre-
mendously worthwhile. It is no accident
that in 2019 our leadership team is more
diverse and our conversations are more vi-
brant and transformative. We work with and
guide faculty and students so that student
engagement has increased, restorative cir-
cles and conflict-mediation have replaced
trips to the office, and faculty take a more
holistic approach to supporting all students
by engaging in more culturally responsive
thinking and learning. 6 The journey to in-
corporating restorative practices and re-
flective language into our school commu-
nity is ongoing and expanding to include
adult affinity group work. We continue to
work with our adults so that we can surface
our own biases and disrupt our assumptive
thinking about student behaviors. We con-
tinue to educate and listen to our students
so our cultural work is empathetic. We have
a lofty goal of nurturing and inspiring all of
our diverse learners so that they can make
our community, and our broader world, a
better, kinder place. l
6. See Zaretta Hammond’s work Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain (2015) for further CRT pedagogical practices.
Dr. Ruth Bissell has worked in both independent and public schools for the past 15 years. During
this time, she has implemented restorative practices with middle school and high school students
that have included the development of peer courts, the use of co-crafted restorative contracts,
redesign of schoolwide discipline policies, and teacher and parent education on restorative
approaches. She is the current middle school division head at San Francisco Day and committed
to using restorative practices to support student learning.
Betsy Brody has worked in educational institutions for 27 years, both in the classroom and as an
administrator. Her journey began in France where she taught ELL ranging in age from five to 85
in public schools, specialized educational industries, and private homes. Five years ago she joined
San Francisco Day School as Director of High School Counseling and Co-Director of Diversity.
Loren Moyé has been teaching for 26 years, 19 of those years at San Francisco Day. Prior to SF
Day, he taught in the San Francisco Unified School District. His teaching experience covers third
and fourth grades, all subjects, and seventh and eighth grade math. He was formerly a co-director
of Aim High, a free summer program for low income middle school youth in the Bay area. He is
currently the Director of Diversity and Dean of Faculty at SF Day and on the staff for the National
SEED Project.
Page 16 Winter 2019
CSEE Connections