We all know the student.
He/she disrupts class, flips a desk, or curses at a teacher. We suspend them for three days. They go home, sleep in, play Fortnite for 72 hours, and return to school on Thursday with zero new skills and a lot of new attitude.
We didn’t fix the behavior; we just pressed pause on it.
As a new Assistant Principal, I quickly realized that traditional In-School-Suspension (ISS) or Out-of-School Suspension (OSS) is often a reward, not a consequence—especially for students who find school stressful. If a student is acting out to escape the classroom, suspension gives them exactly what they want.
That is why I shifted our culture away from “Suspension” and toward the “In-School Reset.”
Here is the difference between the two, and how to run a Reset that actually changes behavior.
The Philosophy: Safety vs. Skill
I still use Out-of-School Suspension, but only for one reason: Safety. If a student is a danger to themselves or others, they cannot be in the building. Period.
But for disrespect, defiance, or disruption? Those are Skill Deficits.
- You cannot learn to regulate your emotions while sitting on your couch at home.
- You cannot repair a relationship with a teacher from your living room.
We need them in the building, but removed from the audience.
The Protocol: How to Run a “Reset”
A Reset is not “In-School Suspension” (ISS) where they just sit and stare at a wall. It is an active process of regulation and repair.
1. The Environment (Boring is Better)
The Reset doesn’t happen on the “bench” in the front office. The front office is a theater. Students get attention there. The Reset happens in a designated, boring spot (a cubicle, a conference room, or a partner teacher’s isolated desk).
- The Rule: No audience. No peers. No tech.
2. The Autopsy (The Reflection Form)
Once the student is regulated (calm), they have to do the work. I don’t lecture them. I make them write. We use a simple “Think Sheet” inspired by Conscious Discipline:
- What was I feeling?
- What did I do?
- What happened when I did it?
- What will I do differently next time?
If they write “I don’t know” or “The teacher is mean,” the paper goes in the trash, and they start over. They cannot leave the Reset until they own the behavior.
3. The Repair (The Apology)
This is the non-negotiable. You cannot return to the community until you repair the harm. This isn’t a mumbled “sorry.” It is a scripted repair:
- “I am sorry for [specific behavior]. Next time, I will [specific replacement behavior].”
4. The Re-Entry
We should never just send a student back to class with a pass. We walk them back and stand at the door while they hand the reflection sheet to the teacher. This signals to the class and the teacher: “The administration has handled this, the student has taken ownership, and we are starting fresh.”
The Takeaway
Suspension teaches a student that when things get hard, they get to leave. A Reset teaches a student that when things get hard, we do the work to fix it.
It takes more time for us as administrators to manage a Reset than to just sign a suspension form. But if we want to stop the revolving door, we have to stop sending them home to play video games and start keeping them here to learn.
If you have a student who is constantly needing resets, you need a Tier 2 plan. Try implementing Check-In/Check-Out.