Hi! It's Allan Benton here at the SVA Vice Principal's desk. Today I'll give you a brief overview of one important area of our discipline structure, the CORE 4, and a little introduction to an important foundational tenet of restorative discipline, the idea of invitation.

The CORE 4 has been with us since year two of SVA. The premise behind this was to move away from having a laundry list of rules and regulations for things that we would tell students  not to do, and to instead use language to encourage students to be thoughtful and respectful about areas of our lives that are important in order to have a functional and safe space in which we can learn together. 

The CORE 4 areas are People, Property, Process and Presentation. We feel that virtually all behaviors that might occur can be referenced back to either respecting, or not respecting, one or more of the areas of the CORE 4. This helps us talk to students about behaviors using positive language to direct them toward improvement in these areas which, when respected by all, allow our school to function effectively. We say things like "Do you think that your behavior was respectful of the CORE 4? What could you have done that would have been more respectful of People and helped the school (your class, you) function more effectively?"

We have high expectations for behavior and we hold students accountable. We do so with a focus on showing respect for the school and each other in these CORE 4 areas that encompass all behaviors.  When a student is struggling with respecting the CORE 4, we use restorative justice practices to help them learn and grow from mistakes. 

One of the foundational ideas of restorative justice is that of the  invitation. I like to say that we are in a constant state of invitation. We are inviting students to engage, to join us in learning, to make good choices, to repair relationships and damages when choices are made that do not respect the CORE 4 or help our school to function.We don't want to drag our scholars through their education, but rather invite them to join us as we all continue to grow and learn together.

My office door is wide open to all. If you ever have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me via email and let's make some time to get together. 

Thank you for working with us to grow "empowered, able citizens, in a democratic society!"

Much Love,

Mr. Benton