Photo by Matt Roth
Eighth-graders in Tracy Hauser’s home room Brittany Carter, left, and Tyveona James, right, join hands with classmates during “circle time” at City Springs School, a Baltimore city charter school Thursday, August 25, 2011. Circle time is an opportunity for students and their teacher to interact, and discuss issues of concern. The school has implemented several structural practices such as single gender classrooms and the Restorative Practices pedagogy. Principal Rhonda Richetta’s idea is to create a safe and respectful culture rather than utilize traditional “crime and punishment” methods and finds that she has to rely less on the school’s security camera system.
