WHAT WE DO

Monthly in-person meetings are held during the school day and occasional office hours sessions occur on Zoom after school. Students have the opportunity to build community, develop as restorative practitioners, exchange work and feedback, and discuss current events and historical context around social justice issues. These meetings are led by Youth Partner Facilitators (YPF) with support from SEE adult coordinators. 

• interview principal

• map community

• design, conduct, & analyze school survey

• conduct root-cause analysis 

• draft action plan 

• facilitate town hall and/or staff PD

• take action! 

A few member schools volunteer to host the group for a school visit. The host school's RPET develops an agenda for the day (tour, classroom observations, interviews, focus groups, etc.) that allows for showcasing promising practices and exploring dilemmas. Participants bring ideas back to their own schools and help host schools to address their challenges and move forward.

Co-led by students, the in-person summit brings together a collective of youth voices to highlight the effects of disproportionality and the power of restorative practices to dismantle inequities through community-building and youth-adult partnership. Attendees will have opportunities to learn, connect, collect resources, and identify best practices that foster more inclusive and humanizing learning environments for all.

Learn more about Youth Summit NYC here!

SEE is an accredited College Now course at Queens College: Education for Social Justice (SEYS 120). At no cost, newly enrolled SEE students (11th graders) are eligible to earn 3 college credits that are transferable to CUNY, SUNY, and private colleges. 

EE pairs participating schools with similar interests so they can learn with/from each other and support one another over time. Partner schools engage in peer consultancy at monthly meetings, check in together at office hours, and visit one another.

Each SEE school is represented by two students and a staff liaison who work closely together to guide the school’s RPET, bridge gaps between the student body and faculty, and model youth-adult partnership schoolwide. This partnership fosters mutual respect, promotes shared decision-making, and empowers youth to shape their communities. 

SEE adult coordinators visit each participating school 2-3 times throughout the year to help the RPET develop and move its work forward and help the staff liaison and student representatives process and strategize.

A Restorative Practices & Equity Team (RPET) team is rooted in authentic youth-adult partnership, restorative practices, and equity-focused action research, which are inextricably entwined. SEE schools are guided in preparing, onboarding, launching, and sustaining RPETs.

SEE offers a multi-day training series in restorative practices tier 1 (community-building) to the youth and adult RPET members of participating schools. This training provides an introduction to restorative approaches and prepares participating youth and adults to become circle-keepers. SEE students also have access to a range of professional development offerings through the Youth Empowerment Expansion Program (YEEP!).