Fix School Discipline Toolkit for Educators | Page 45

HIGHLIGHT: REID HIGH SCHOOL
AND CALIFORNIA CONFERENCE
FOR EQUALITY AND JUSTICE
Reid High School, a continuation high school located in Long Beach, CA, serves 297
students. About 74% of the students are Latino or Hispanic, 14% are African-American and
about 10% are Filipino, American Indian, Pacific Islander, white, and multiracial

What does RJ look like at Reid High
School?

these students and change their lives, if we don’t
make the time.

Restorative Justice Strategist/Coach Rob Howard:
In my human relations class, I work with 11th Graders
and 12th Graders who do not have enough credits
for their grade level or to graduate from high school.
There are also students who were sent here because
they have behavior issues or have been involved in
the juvenile justice system. Generally, this school
has had a bad rap. According to other people, this is
where “bad” kids go.

Additionally, we are integrating RJ with the
California Conference for Equality and Justice
(CCEJ). CCEJ provides training and technical
assistance with implementing human relations
concepts into the curriculum to a variety of schools.
In this class, we are learning about the systems of
oppression that are in place in society and schools
that funnel students into the school-to-jail track. In
addition to participating in circle, students complete
projects and assignments about social justice/antioppression elements and we display these around the
room.

I teach the human relations class here. Many of the
students in my class were referred to this class for one
reason or another. The students enrolled in this class
vary and have been very traumatized by violence in
their communities or homes and have been pushed
out of their home schools. Usually, they don’t like
school and have struggled in school. To add another
wrench, because of where the school is located, there
are a lot of issues with gangs, race, religion and
homophobia. We are working on breaking down
those lines and, literally, becoming friends.
I am using elements in the restorative spectrum
– such as active listening, affective questions and
statements, and circles - to build relationships and
community within Reid. That’s really what RJ is. It’s
all the stuff that we should do, that it makes sense to
do but we don’t do it because we are swamped and
always say we don’t have the time. But, we can’t reach

What changes have you seen at Reid as a
result of RJ?
Howard: The energy is different. Students are
showing up and staying at school more. There are
less physical conflicts on campus. We are able to
intervene in conflict before having to suspend or
involve the police.
Reid High Graduate and Restorative Justice
Youth Coordinator Alexis “Cherry” Cox: When
I came to Reid, I was having a lot of problems. I was
going through personal issues with my family and my
school, and I failed my 10th grade year. I didn’t really
know anyone here. Because of all the problems, I was
having I was referred to the Building Bridges Camp
that is run by CCEJ. There we learned about different

43