Building Connection Through Restorative Practices: Maple Run Unified School District's Transformative Approach

​Maple Run Unified School District in Vermont has become a national model for how restorative practices can rebuild community and improve outcomes in the wake of pandemic disruptions. Faced with rising behavioral and social-emotional challenges, the district adopted a relationship-centered, prevention-focused approach that strengthened school climate, boosted academic performance, and improved student and staff well-being. Over three years, Maple Run saw significant gains in behavior, literacy, and math, alongside high levels of belonging and exceptional staff retention, all supported by intentional structures such as school-based teams, district-wide coordination, and a long-term strategic plan. Their comprehensive implementation shows how restorative practices can transform school culture and create conditions where students and educators thrive.

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In the aftermath of pandemic-related disruptions, schools across the country have grappled with how to rebuild community, address rising behavioral challenges, and support both students and staff through difficult transitions. For Maple Run Unified School District in Vermont, the answer lay in a comprehensive commitment to restorative practices—an approach that has transformed school climate, strengthened relationships, and driven measurable improvements in academic achievement.
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The district's success has garnered national recognition from the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP), which featured Maple Run in a case study celebrating its district-wide implementation. Serving St. Albans City, St. Albans Town, and Fairfield across five schools, Maple Run has created a model that demonstrates how restorative approaches can fundamentally shift school culture when implemented with intention, consistency, and collaboration.

Responding to Crisis with Relationship-Centered Solutions

When students and staff returned to in-person learning after the pandemic, Maple Run faced challenges familiar to many school communities: heightened behavioral issues, social-emotional struggles, and strained relationships. Rather than responding with punitive measures alone, district leaders made a strategic decision to invest in an evidence-based approach centered on building and maintaining healthy relationships.

Alexis Hoyt, Director of Student Support Services, articulated the district's vision clearly: they needed a practice that would help everyone feel heard, safe, supported, and accountable. This proactive, prevention-oriented framework offered an alternative to reactive discipline systems that often fail to address underlying needs or build the connections essential for learning and growth.
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Restorative practices provided that framework. Rather than focusing solely on consequences for harm, the approach emphasizes preventing harm through strong relationships and responding to incidents in ways that repair damage, restore relationships, and support accountability. This shift represents a fundamental reframing of how schools approach behavior and community building—moving from "What rule was broken and what punishment is deserved?" to "What happened, who was affected, and what needs to happen to make things right?"

Measurable Transformation Across Multiple Dimensions

The results of Maple Run's commitment speak powerfully to the effectiveness of restorative practices when implemented comprehensively. Over three years, the percentage of students meeting the district's behavioral benchmark of four major incidents or fewer increased by 21 percent, reaching 85 percent of all students. This improvement reflects not just better behavior management but a fundamental shift in school climate and relationships.

The impact extends well beyond behavior metrics. Academic outcomes have improved dramatically, with a 60 percent increase in literacy proficiency and a 255 percent increase in math proficiency. These gains underscore a critical truth about restorative practices: when students feel connected, safe, and supported, they are better positioned to learn. The connection between relational health and academic achievement is not incidental but foundational.

Students themselves report feeling the difference. Eighty-nine percent indicate they feel positively supported at school, while the sense of belonging increased by 17 percent between 2021 and 2023. These subjective experiences matter enormously—they reflect whether schools are places where young people can thrive, not just comply.
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The benefits have extended to staff as well. The district maintains a 98 percent staff retention rate, remarkable in an era when educator burnout and turnover plague many schools. Seventy percent of staff have been trained in restorative practices, ensuring that this approach permeates the entire organization rather than existing in isolated pockets.

Sustainability Through Intentional Structure

Maple Run's success stems not from a single workshop or short-term initiative but from systematic, sustained implementation. The district established restorative practices teams at each school and created a district-wide Social-Emotional Learning and Restorative Practices team to coordinate efforts across campuses. A five-year strategic plan provides the framework for continuing to develop, measure, and refine their approach over time.
This structural commitment addresses one of the most common challenges in school improvement efforts: initiatives that fade when key champions leave or when new priorities emerge. By embedding restorative practices into the district's organizational structure and long-term planning, Maple Run has created conditions for this work to endure and deepen.

The district has also worked intentionally to clarify what restorative practices actually mean, addressing common misconceptions. As Hoyt notes, the emphasis is on responding to student and staff needs proactively and preventatively, not just intervening when harm has already occurred. This understanding shifts restorative practices from a reactive tool to a comprehensive approach that shapes daily interactions, classroom culture, and community norms.

For practitioners in the dialogue and deliberation field, Maple Run's work offers valuable lessons about how restorative approaches complement and strengthen democratic engagement. The skills and values at the heart of restorative practices—active listening, perspective-taking, collaborative problem-solving, and shared accountability—are foundational to meaningful civic participation. By developing these capacities in young people, schools like Maple Run are preparing students not just for academic success but for democratic life.
The district's achievement also demonstrates the power of whole-system change. Restorative practices work best when they become part of organizational culture rather than isolated programs. This lesson applies across settings where dialogue and deliberation practitioners seek to embed their work into institutions and communities.

Maple Run Unified School District has become a model for K-12 schools nationwide, showing that restorative practices can simultaneously improve school climate, enhance safety, and drive academic excellence. Their journey offers both inspiration and practical guidance for educational leaders seeking to create schools where relationships are central, where everyone belongs, and where learning can flourish.
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Learn more about Maple Run's restorative practices implementation and outcomes by reading the full IIRP case study at https://www.maplerun.org/article/2517009.