Progressive Education at HVA

Restorative Accountable Discipline

While the word “discipline” is most often associated with punishment, we see it differently. Discipline comes from the Latin root “disciple,” meaning to learn. We believe discipline is about teaching students to become a person of upstanding character. We don’t want students to be punished then come back to school and repeat the same poor behavior. We want them to transform their attitudes and actions.

To this end, HVA believes in discipline that is both accountable and restorative:
• Accountable: Clear rules and logical consequences. Progressive does not mean permissive. We have the absolute highest expectations for completely respectful student behavior.
• Restorative: A process aimed at teaching students to internalize positive mindsets and character traits, to do the right thing because it has value to them (not because of external rewards or punishments).

In the restorative process, when students violate a community rule, in addition to earning the logical consequence, students are also required to:
• Take responsibility for their behavior
• Understand the impact they’ve had, and…
• Take action steps to “make it right” by repairing the harm they’ve caused to the community.

The immediate goal of the restorative process is for students to get back on track with behavior so they can resume learning right away. The long-term goal is for students to become independently respectful and invested in their own learning. This long-term goal is correlated with college and career.