INDIANAPOLIS – Out-of-school suspensions at one Indianapolis middle school have dropped 90 percent through a partnership between Peace Learning Center and Indiana University Health, part of a five-year, $1.2 million effort helping students resolve conflict, reduce violence, and stay in class.
At Harshman Middle School, out-of-school suspensions declined from 571 incidents in the program’s first year (2022) to 60 during the 2025-26 school year that just ended. During that same period, students and staff participated in 480 peace circles, 23 peer mediations, 28 restorative conferences, and 17 re-entry conferences designed to help students successfully return to the classroom following conflict or disciplinary action.
Belzer Middle School in Lawrence Township has worked with PLC for six years. Office referrals dropped from 89 in Year 1 to 28 in Year 6, while in-school suspensions fell from 242 to 87. This year alone, the school facilitated 50 circles, 55 restorative chats, 30 restorative conferences, and 12 re-entry conferences.
The investment from IU Health is crucial to Peace Learning Center’s restorative practices, peer mediation, and school-based peacebuilding programs in Harshman, Belzer and 10 other Marion County schools. The objective is to equip students and educators with practical tools for conflict resolution, communication, accountability, and relationship-building before situations escalate into violence, exclusion, or justice-system involvement. The work at Harshman and Belzer is part of Peace Learning Center’s broader Transforming Youth Justice Initiative in dozens of schools, the criminal justice system, and community centers, which seeks to divert youth from arrest and prosecution through restorative practices, case management, mental health supports, and community-based services.
Across the initiative, more than 3,500 youth have participated in diversion and restorative programming, with approximately 92% not reoffending after completing services.
“These outcomes show what is possible when schools, healthcare organizations, and community partners invest upstream in prevention and student well-being,” said Tim Nation, Executive Director and Cofounder of Peace Learning Center. “This work helps students remain connected to school, strengthens school culture, and gives young people real-world leadership and communication skills.”
Grover Edwards, behavior specialist at Harshman Middle School, said the cultural shift inside the school has been dramatic.
“When I started working with Peace Learning Center in 2021 at Harshman, our school had about more than 550 suspensions per year,” Edwards said. “Last semester, we had 30.”
Edwards said demand for student leadership opportunities has also surged, with 130 students applying for 26 peer mediator positions this year.
“Before mediation, there was really only one choice — fight and be suspended,” Edwards said. “Now students say, ‘We need a mediation.’”
Peace Learning Center’s approach includes Peace Learning Circles, restorative chats, peer mediation, restorative conferences, and re-entry conferences that help students repair harm, rebuild trust, and remain engaged academically and socially. Founded in 1997 through a public-private partnership with the City of Indianapolis and Indy Parks, Peace Learning Center has served more than 300,000 people throughout Central Indiana. Its programming includes workplace skills building, social-emotional learning, peer mediation, youth diversion, and community peacebuilding initiatives. PLC works with more than 100 schools and community partners each year. “Harshman and Belzer demonstrate that students can learn to pause, communicate, repair harm, and lead when given the right support systems,” Nation added. “IU Health’s partnership has helped schools create healthier environments where students can succeed academically and personally.”
About Peace Learning Center
Peace Learning Center educates, inspires, and empowers people to live peacefully. Based in Eagle Creek Park, the organization works with schools, youth-serving organizations, public agencies, and community partners throughout Central Indiana to provide restorative practices, conflict resolution, social-emotional learning, mediation, and peacebuilding programs. Additional investors include Indianapolis Foundation, Herbert Simon Family Foundation, Lilly Endowment , Efroymson Fund, and others.
About IU Health
Indiana University Health is Indiana’s most comprehensive healthcare system. An academic health center, IU Health provides leading-edge medicine and treatments. IU Health supports the Peace Learning Center through their Community Impact Investment grants.
Indiana University Health is dedicated to offering highly-skilled, patient-centered care. Named among U.S. News & World Report’s 2025-2026 Best Hospitals as a High Performing hospital in four specialties, IU Health Medical Center is the only academic medical center in the state. The distinctive partnership with the Indiana University School of Medicine – one of the nation’s leading medical schools – equips our highly-skilled physicians with access to innovative treatments using the latest research and technology.
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