MWMS Restorative Justice: Parent/Family Survey for Mayfield Woods Middle School

As you know, Mayfield Woods Middle School has been working towards developing a Restorative Justice culture. 

As a Restorative Justice Cohort school we work in collaboration with the Howard County Education Association's (HCEA), Dr. Kevin Gilbert, Howard County Public School System's Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Colleen Morris, HCEA president; Dwanna Nicole, from The Restorative Justice Partnership. We workly closely with all administrators in the cohort schools; Laurel Woods Elementary School, Swansfield Elementary School, Mayfield Woods Middle School, Oakland Mills Middle School, Long Reach High School, and Wilde Lake High School. 

Restorative Justice is an indigenous philosophy that emphasizes building relationships. After relationships have been established, if there is a need to repair harm, restorative justice provides an opportunity for everyone impacted by an incident to come together in a safe space to address their feelings and needs, and reach a resolution that heals and restores.

In schools, restorative justice can be used to:  

• build healthy relationships between all members of the school community, including staff, students, and families;
• identify areas of need to focus supports;
• support healthy social and emotional development and interactions;
• create safe spaces for difficult conversations, deep emotions and healing;
• shift the focus from intervention to prevention of disciplinary infractions; and
• shift the paradigm from punitive to restorative disciplinary practices that repair harm and reduce suspensions, expulsions and arrests.

​It is vital to our work that we know about the experiences of our students and families at Mayfield Woods.

As Maya Angelou said, "Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better." 

During Homeroom on Monday, October 19th, our students were able to provide feedback about our school culture to the MWMS administration and our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee through a survey in partnership with the Restorative Justice Partnership, Howard County Education Association (HCEA), and the HCPSS Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. 

We appreciate our students’ and parents feedback and look forward to sharing how we will use it as we continue to develop a Restorative Justice culture here at Mayfield! We are very excited and grateful for your partnership, time and feedback!

#onemayfield

#onemayfield was created during the 2016-2017 school year at Mayfield Woods, celebrating diversity, unity and community.   We feel strongly that every single person who enters our doors will know that at Mayfield we value our diversity, we celebrate the uniqueness of each individual child, parent, staff member, and community member,  and that we believe that our different perspectives, backgrounds and cultures make us stronger.  

VISION

Mayfield Woods is an inclusive environment, where every member of our community supports and values each other.

 

GOAL

We will create a space for the

Mayfield Woods community to authentically interact across differences to

dialogue about belongingness, and

develop empathy through experiences that promote togetherness.

 

During the 2017-18 school year, we dedicated three days to hosting grade level #onemayfield days, facilitated by folks from the HCPSS Department of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in partnership with the Howard County Government’s Department of Community Resources and Services, and each student at Mayfield Woods was given the opportunity to participate.   #onemayfield and #onehoward worked together to create an opportunity for students and staff to come together in facilitated discussions designed to highlight, celebrate, and honor the differences that exist between us. We believe that to be a community known for civility and inclusiveness, we must first seek to understand and empathize with one another. During this event, our students and staff began to thoughtfully engage in dialogue dispelling the narrative that we can only connect through similarities or shared experiences. The event culminated with student input and suggestions for action that promote a more inclusive community. We continued with this is the 2019-2020 school year and plan to continue with this in the 2021-2022 school year. 

If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Stevens.  If you would prefer that your child not participate, please contact Ms. Stevens two days prior to the scheduled date so that alternate arrangements can be made.