Lynchburg City Schools (LCS) is excited to announce the Restorative Suspension Center (RSC), a new opportunity to help students succeed in the classroom. The Restorative Suspension Center is an alternative to traditional suspension for middle and high school students at LCS. Instead of students serving their out-of-school suspension at home, they will attend the RCS to serve their short-term (1-10 day) suspensions.
LCS Director of Student Services, Dr. Derrick Brown said, “We believe that we should provide an alternative to traditional school suspension that is intentionally structured to help students change their behavior. We want to ensure that the focus of our disciplinary consequences is on changing behavior. Our team is committed to providing innovative programming to meet the ever-changing needs of our schools and community.”
When students arrive at the RSC, they will be engaged in an all-day program that will allow them to continue to complete their classwork and work to improve their behavior. During a student's suspension, trained LCS employees will work with them one-on-one and in small groups to help students reflect on their behavior and create action plans to restore the relationships their behavior has impacted, all while students continue to focus on their academic progress.
LCS has also partnered with a local mental and behavioral health organization, Life Push, to facilitate 60-90 minute small group behavior sessions to help students learn from their mistakes. Life Push is a multi-tiered human services company licensed by the Department of Behavioral Health and Development Services (DBHDS) in the state of Virginia.
RSC is located in the Amelia Pride Building beside Dunbar Middle School for Innovation.