NTPS to open ‘restorative centers’ this fall at 4 high schools. Here’s how they’ll work

North Thurston Public Schools plans to open “restorative centers” at its four high schools next fall, wanting to adopt a model that has been used successfully at other school districts, a district official said.

That news was delivered by Antonio Sandifer, director of equity and languages at the district, during this week’s joint meeting of the North Thurston school board and Lacey City Council.

The elected governing boards updated each other on various projects, including the district’s equity efforts and the Lacey Equity Commission’s mission to help shape city policy so that all voices are represented.

Sandifer said the restorative centers will offer peer-based mentoring and mediation to students who are having a problem with another student or teacher. The centers will be supervised by adults, but the actual work will be student to student, he said.

The district has asked for student volunteers and the response has been overwhelming, with 160 students stepping up, including about 80 from River Ridge High School, Sandifer said. Volunteers will be trained in June before the centers open in the fall.

Other district equity efforts:

▪ Conversational Spanish: Not surprisingly, Spanish is the second most spoken language among students in the district, Sandifer said, so they have brought in a Spanish teacher to teach conversational Spanish to staff and teachers. They had one class last year, two this year, plus there’s an online component, he said.

▪ Nisqually Tribe: Opportunities to learn the Nisqually language “Lushootseed” have been offered as a lunchtime enrichment program at River Ridge High School and Evergreen Forest Elementary.

▪ Dual language program: Lydia Hawk Elementary is entering its third year of offering a dual English/Spanish program, in which 50 percent of the day is taught in each language. A dual-language kindergarten class will be launched next fall at Mountain View Elementary.

▪ Community cafe: The district holds periodic meetings with community members. Next week the district will host a cafe at Envision Career Academy for English language learners. Past meetings have focused on biracial parents and the Black and African-American community.

▪ Ethnic studies: More teachers are being trained in ethnic studies, with 32 teachers in the latest cohort, according to district information.

“We teach students to examine, listen and use critical thinking to authentically understand diverse lived experiences and issues of race,” Sandifer said.

Lacey Equity Commission Chairman Cliff Brown praised Sandifer’s presentation and said the district has a strong equity program, but he also said there are some very basic things not being addressed, according to North Thurston students he and other equity commissioners have heard from.

The equity commission recently held its own Black and African-American community forum and one of the first questions fielded by the group was about racial equity at the district.

Brown said the students concerned about racial equity are not getting the communications and feedback on district progress that they desire.

“That piece is still missing,” he said. “What is the communications plan? is the only outstanding question I have at this time.”