St. Stephen’s partners with the Institute for Social and Emotional Learning to host Restorative Practices workshops. 

The phrase “belonging becomes behavior” reminds us that creating a community where students feel a deep sense of belonging is a foundational goal of educating young people to make healthy choices, use their voice and be active citizens. This sentiment was a primary theme of a two-day fall Institute for Social and Emotional Learning (IFSEL) Restorative Practices workshop held on the St. Stephen’s campus. IFSEL, a nonprofit organization devoted to empowering educators, young people and parents to transform their schools into caring, inclusive communities, hosted 40-plus educators in Becker Library for this innovative training on conflict resolution.

Workshop attendees from across the country traveled to Austin to learn and network with other professionals in their field.

“This training was deeply inspiring and immediately applicable to my work with middle school students,” said Suzanne Crow, middle school dean of students and librarian at The Spence School in New York. “I returned to my school inspired and excited!"  

IFSEL Co-founder and Director Rush Sabiston Frank said, “Participants learned a range of proactive and responsive tools to use both in the moment and after harm occurs, deepening their understanding of how connection, identity and community form the foundation of restorative approaches in schools.”

Part two of the IFSEL workshop, partially funded by the Brooke Howe Laws Endowment for Professional Development, provided a Community Building and Restorative Practices training for 35 St. Stephen’s faculty, staff and students. This session focused on establishing a framework to incorporate restorative practices into our community fabric. 

“The workshop reminded me that I am lucky to be able to be so engaged in my community,” said Elizabeth Roth ’29. “And it also allowed me to empathize and interact with the people around me more.”

Workshop activities challenged participants to examine their identities and rethink pre-conceived expectations of others. 

“During [the] IFSEL training I learned that sometimes it is best to not make assumptions about people,” said Keyen Gupta ’26. “I really learned the power of listening over talking and it was good to hear other people's opinions over my own.”

Rush Sabiston Frank noted, “this workshop of identity-based, culture-building activities was essential to establish the 80% of Restorative Practices that must be in place for the responsive 20% to truly take root.”  IFSEL will be offering follow up opportunities for Spartans to practice the tools of restorative practices and embed the language of repair into our school environment.

Learn more about the Institute for Social & Emotional Learning

Learn more about Student Wellness at St. Stephen’s