Pittsburgh Arlington School Slashes Fights Using a Harry-Potter-Inspired House System

Arlington Pre-K-8 public school in Pittsburgh, serving about 360 students, recorded more than 130 fights during the 2024-25 school year. After implementing daily “safety huddles,” restorative-practice discipline, and a Hogwarts-style house system that groups students across grades, the school reported only 10 fights in the following year.

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Principal Crystal Caldwell, who assumed leadership amid a turnover of four principals in recent years, directed staff to increase communication and intervene early with students showing signs of distress. The school adopted restorative practices that replace detention or suspension with reparative actions, such as cleaning a vandalized hallway or facilitating peer-mediated apologies.

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• Fights: >130 in 2024-25 -> 10 after reforms.

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• District Expansion: The Pittsburgh school district is rolling the house program out to dozens of schools.

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• Neighboring Districts: Duquesne City Schools reported a 74 % drop in disciplinary incidents after adopting houses; Union County Public Schools in North Carolina are using a similar model in about a dozen elementary schools.

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By fostering belonging, mentorship across grades, and gamified positive behavior, the approach is gaining traction in schools facing high violence, chronic absenteeism, and community hardship.

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• “We let the kids talk it out, and they come up with their own way to apologize and say how they will do better,” — Crystal Caldwell, major changes principal

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