Castlemont Peacemaking Room

Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY)

Developing Program and Place

Located at the nexus of several buildings on campus, the site for the peacemaking room was a storage space in a double-wide trailer surrounded by a parking lot and garden. Using an initiative by architects across the country to provide 1% of their resources to pro bono work, RJOY was able to work with Deanna Van Buren to create a space for their program.

Project Details

Location: Oakland, CA

Status: Completed 2010

Spaces for: Education

Project & Program Partners: Restorative Justice for Oakland Youth (RJOY)

Team: Rodrigo Lima, Deanna Van Buren

Castlemont High School Peacemaking Room (Photo by Theodor S Rzad)

Spaces for Healing

With a grant from the California Endowment we were able to outfit the space with carpet, furniture, plants, lighting, new paint, and artwork for their restorative justice program that will train teachers, administrators, and students to address conflict in East Oakland’s Castlemont High School using restorative justice peacemaking circles rather than expulsions and suspensions.

“

The space at Castlemont was truly a haven…for students and staff. With the kids, it was always a special place that was so markedly different from any other room on campus. Adults enjoyed the space as well. One colleague described it as her sanctuary on campus.

Yejide Ankobia
Dean of Restorative Discipline & School Culture