Fix School Discipline Toolkit for Educators | Page 62
FREE L.A. HIGH SCHOOL
Fighting for the Revolution that will Educate and Empower Los Angeles, Youth Justice Coalition
FREE LA High School first opened in 2003 to
serve system-involved students being kicked out
of traditional school settings and those returning
from juvenile detention facilities. This independent
charter school, located in Chuco’s Justice Center
on the border between South Central LA and
Inglewood, is open to students 16-24, who want to
finish high school and receive a diploma.
Students and staff at FREE LA High School
participate in transformative justice (TJ) as an
alternative to suspensions and expulsions. TJ
engages all stakeholders in circles aimed at building
relationships and trust. In circles, student and sta ff
address school-related problems, such as truancy,
bullying, and youth staff relations. They also tackle
broader social problems, such as discrimination and
police violence. TJ develops the skills of students,
staff and other community members in conflict
mediation, problem solving, de-escalation of violence
and techniques to defuse bullying, harassment and
disrespect. Additionally, Youth Justice Coalition
provides training and professional development to
school teams who want to implement transformative
justice in their schools.
How is the culture at Free LA High School
different from schools that you previously
attended?
Julio Marquez, 12th grade student: Before coming
here, I was at a different school where I was in honors
classes but I started having health issues that were
getting in the way of my focusing on school. No one
really cared about what was going on with me so I
became depressed and started failing my classes.
At my other school there were security guards
with guns and the culture was oppressive and not
welcoming. Here, everyone belongs and can bring
something into the space. This is most definitely a
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How we can fix school discipline
better way of learning.
Another great thing about FREE LA High School
is that we practice transformative justice to resolve
conflicts. Transformative justice is a little different
from restorative justice. Restorative justice looks at
repairing harm and restoring something that was
lost. Transformative justice does that too but then
works on advancing together and transforming the
society around you; it seeks to repair, prevent and
move forward. For instance, say that I was at your
house and I wrote graffiti on your walls. If we are
working with restorative justice, I would apologize
and clean or paint your walls to get rid of the
graffiti. Transformative justice takes it further so we
could figure out why I tagged your walls in the first
place. Maybe I was bored or maybe I needed to do
something artistic. We would then figure out how to
deal with my boredom or artistic needs that would
prevent another graffiti incident and would give me
an outlet. Actually, here at FREE LA, we have a Graf
Room that students can use for tagging and other
graffiti to prevent them from getting in trouble on
the streets.
We really take revolution seriously here. Every
Friday, we attend a class, “Street University,”
where we learn about how different systems work
to oppress different groups of people. Then we
organize and advocate for things that will empower
us, our families and our community.
Visit, call or email us:
FREE L.A. High School, Chuco’s Justice Center
1137 E. Redondo Blvd., Inglewood, CA 90302
323.235.4243, [email protected]