Building Schools Where Every Student Belongs
How the Restorative School Culture Program is changing conflict, one circle at a time
What if schools could respond to conflict not with punishment, but with conversation? That is the core idea behind the Restorative School Culture (RSC) Program, a whole-school initiative delivered by Regional Red Deer Restorative Justice (RRDRJ), available to schools in Wolf Creek School Division and rural schools in the Red Deer Catholic School Division.
Launched in 2025 with support from the Alberta Law Foundation, the RSC Program equips students, teachers, and school communities with practical tools for building relationships, addressing harm early, and preventing conflict from escalating. The goal is not just to respond to problems, but to prevent them from happening in the first place.
“Restorative justice is not just a response to harm, but a proactive approach to creating safer, more connected school environments.”
A Three-Level Approach
The program is built around the Restorative Justice Pyramid, a framework that guides intervention from everyday classroom culture all the way up to serious incidents.
Foundation: Universal Practices Morning check-ins, classroom circles, and social-emotional learning build trust and belonging for every student, every day.
Targeted: Restorative Responses Peer mediation and restorative conversations help students work through conflict before it escalates, repairing relationships rather than severing them.
Intensive: Conferencing and Re-entry For serious incidents, structured restorative conferences bring together those affected to develop meaningful, community-supported agreements.
What Schools Receive
Participating schools receive weekly, in-person support from trained RRDRJ coordinators and facilitators at no cost. That includes professional development for staff, in-class circle demonstrations, tailored school action plans, and restorative conferencing as a genuine alternative to suspension.
A key principle of the program is that it works with schools, not to them. RRDRJ aligns with existing policies and procedures, and is careful not to create extra work for already-stretched teachers and administrators. The program builds capacity inside the school so that restorative practices can eventually run independently.
Why It Matters in Rural Communities
In rural settings, the ripple effects of conflict and harm travel further. Youth in these communities often face limited resources, social isolation, and the weight of everyone knowing their story. The RSC Program takes those realities seriously, addressing underlying issues like trauma and lack of adult support alongside the immediate incident.
Early, proactive intervention keeps young people from falling through the cracks and, in many cases, from entering the criminal justice system altogether.
Interested in Bringing This Program to Your School?
RRDRJ is currently accepting schools for the 2026 program year. Spaces are limited.
Apply HereContact Jo Phillips, Executive Director ed@rrdrestorativejustice.ca | 403.352.9941
