Success at Harwood: Thoughtful Leadership in Action

By Jessica Villeneuve, Camille Koosmann, and Mandy Couturier

Photos provided by HUUSD

The first word that comes to Camille Koosmann’s mind when she thinks about Harwood is joy.

She says, “Harwood has such a great group of dedicated educators. It has been wonderful to meet people during our strand at the June UVM BEST Conferences for a four-day introduction to Holistic Restorative Practices. Then, to go into their spaces and see what they’re actually doing is pure joy.”

That joy has grounded a four-year partnership between Starling Collaborative (SC) and Harwood Unified Union School District (HUUSD) that began in 2022 and has steadily grown from work in a single school to district-wide leadership, special education, and whole-school training.

Building a Strong Foundation

From the start, Harwood approached restorative practices as a “way of being” rather than a program. Focusing on school leadership, student support services, and the formation of a restorative practices team, Harwood leaned into their existing strengths — a deep culture of student voice and a long history with the Harkness Method. One early highlight featured a fishbowl circle, where students took the lead. While educators listened, students reflected on what it feels like to be in a truly connected learning environment and shared what supports their engagement.

At the district level, leaders began thinking intentionally about scale: how to bring restorative practices into multiple schools while honoring each school’s culture. Harwood's answer was a theme-based approach.

District leaders stayed one year ahead of what they brought to staff. While focusing on relationships and belonging, they built their own skills in gathering, circling up, and facilitating restorative conversations. By the time the theme of "Gathering" was introduced to the broader staff in the second year, leadership had already lived it.

The theme rollout was supported by a clear implementation plan. This included a series of common circles hosted at each school throughout the district. In addition, many schools began using circles in staff meetings and applying the Balance in the Process to team meetings.

By year three, the work expanded further. District leaders — including school principals and central office staff — deepened their circle practice as a tool for connection, problem solving, and conflict resolution. After two years of intentional leadership training in a holistic restorative approach, participation at SC’s intro strand at BEST also broadened to include teachers, paraprofessionals, and United Arts/Essentials educators from across the district.

Across the district today, you see discipline responses rooted in a restorative approach, decreased out of class referrals and exclusionary practices, like suspension. Harwood leaders consistently look for opportunities to respond more restoratively — even using grant-funded initiatives, like bullying prevention, as chances to reflect systemically rather than rely on quick fixes.

“They really live their values,” Camille says. “They see opportunities everywhere to be more restorative. Every year, I’m inspired by my work with them.”

Adults in the schools are modeling the practices of restorative communication, circling up, and gathering together to intentionally build community, trust, capacity, skill, and motivation together. They in turn, also practice these with students. These educators listen deeply to their students, and have, in turn, built communities of care and resilience.

Leadership That Lives the Values

Key champions — including Mandy Couturier, Melody Frank, Bethany Turnbaugh, Laurie Greenberg, and Megan MacDonough — have helped sustain the work through leadership transitions and growth. Camille notes that what makes Harwood a standout in the work is their willingness to lean into hard or complex conversations rather than avoid them.

“They do the work themselves before bringing it to their staff. They’ve thought deeply and intentionally about it.”