UPDATE ON
LIVING OUR MISSION: ANTI-RACIST PROGRAMS & PRACTICES DECEMBER 2020
DEAR BUCKLEY COMMUNITY, This summer, in what became a season of racial reckoning for the nation and for independent schools everywhere, we heard painful stories about Buckley, both past and present. We heard the call for equity and for justice. And we made a promise. We promised to own our past. We promised to stamp out oppression. We promised to rise up, recreated as a vastly more inclusive community. We made these promises because we believe freedom from oppression should be a fundamental human right. At the very least, it should be a hallmark of this community. Every child and every adult deserves to be treated equitably, to be included. We will live our mission. “Living Our Mission” does not mean going through the motions for optics’ sake, or to check off boxes, where the longer the list the better. “Living Our Mission” means substantive change through intentional, consistent, and persistent education, sincere listening, and deep reflection. It’s about aligning our systems and structures with our values and taking strong action. In this update to our document from August, Living Our Mission: Anti-Racist Programs and Practices, you’ll see that in the last three months we’ve taken solid strides forward, and we’re committed to taking bigger leaps. Our work is ever-present, continual, and never-ending. I thank you, yet again, for your support in holding up the torch of dignity, in wrapping each other in the blanket of belonging.
Alona Scott Head of School
CLUBS AND AFFINITY GROUPS STUDENT CLUBS Lower School Culture Clubs Middle School Diversity Club Upper School Diversity Club Black Student Union
STUDENT AFFINITY GROUPS Asian/Pacific Islander Affinity Diaspora (Black Affinity) Latinos Unidos (Latinx Affinity) LAMBDA (LGBTQ+ Affinity) Middle Eastern Affinity SPECTRUM and Students of Color In development: Upper School: Anti-Bias Affinity Middle Eastern/North African Affinity (formerly Middle Eastern)
FAMILY AFFINITY GROUPS Asian Family Network Gay Family Network Heritage Families Latinx Family Network
TIMELINE:
WORK COMPLETED, AUGUST THROUGH DECEMBER
AUGUST PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (PD) • “The Elephant in the Room” (social unrest, @BlackAt pages) • “Anti-Racism on Buckley’s Campus” • Faculty/Staff Summer read, The New Jim Crow to be reviewed and discussed in early 2021
STUDENT PROGRAMMING & SUPPORT • Required Middle School DEI Orientation: “Beginner DEI Language” • Enrolled all ninth grade students in the fifth year of “Intersections of Identity,” a required course taught by the DEI Office in which students reflect on the multiple aspects of their own identity, the identity of others, and the unique experiences of intersectionality (when two aspects of identity are intertwined, such as race and gender)
ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT • Hosted Town Hall Zoom with Alumni
ADMISSION OUTREACH & FACULTY RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION • Retained an outside consultant to regularly gather data around families who withdraw prior to graduation or who decline offers of enrollment. This information would be reviewed and used to inform the Board, DEI, and Admission’s process and practice.
SEPTEMBER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (PD) • “Anti-Racism & The Phases of Cultural Proficiency” • “Unpacking the @BlackAt Pages”
STUDENT PROGRAMMING & SUPPORT • Modified the school calendar to require and ensure that all Middle and Upper School students and faculty attend the bi-annual Social Justice Symposia. • Offered Heritage Month community programming in Lower, Middle, and Upper School.
ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT • Provided training for the Alumni Engagement Board • Held meeting for the Black Alumni Network • Appointed representative of the Alumni Engagement Board to the DEI committee of the board of trustees. • Continued collaboration and meetings with the Black Alumni Network. • Reviewed the governance structure of the Alumni Engagement Board.
ADMISSION OUTREACH & FACULTY RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION • Launched search for director of admission—title changed to director of enrollment management to reflect an emphasis on strategic recruitment, enrollment, and retention of students. • Focused the retained searches for both director of enrollment management and the permanent Middle School head on attracting a diverse pool of candidates. Position statements posted on a wide array of sites that tap into a deep pool of BIPOC candidates. Strategic word of mouth and general networking has bolstered the approach.
PARENT EDUCATION • Trained the Parents’ Association Executive Board and all Room Parents in anti-racist practices • Hosted Town Hall Zoom with Heritage Families (Black family affinity group)
OCTOBER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (PD) • “Windows, Mirrors, & Sliding Glass Doors” • “Baratunde Thurston & How to Deconstruct Racism” • DEI Faculty/Staff Drop-In Zoom
OCTOBER STUDENT PROGRAMMING & SUPPORT • Curated programming in Lower, Middle, and Upper School for national Spirit Day in support of LGBTQ youth and against bullying • Presented Middle School Symposia, “Staying Positive in a Bananas World” • Presented Upper School Symposia, “Exploring Justice Through Social Change & Identity”
ADMISSION OUTREACH & FACULTY RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION • Produced Buckley At Home Fall Series for current and prospective families: Stamped as a new Middle School text • Launched direct mail postcard advertising Virtual Open Houses sent to specific neighborhoods/demographics to attract more BIPOC applicants • Showcased DEI in all Admission Open Houses
BOARD OF TRUSTEES TRAINING • Provided DEI training for the Board of Trustees with Alison Park, Blink Consulting
NOVEMBER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (PD) • “Political Identity: In Conversation” • Hired diversity and inclusion consultant Roderick Fludd to work with the faculty/staff DEI Task Force on curriculum mapping
STUDENT PROGRAMMING & SUPPORT • Offered Native American/Indigenous People Heritage community programming to Lower, Middle, and Upper School • Established Middle Eastern/North African (MENA) affinity group • Hosted student engagement meetings on Anti-Bias Affinity
ADMISSION OUTREACH & FACULTY RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION • Added a DEI panel of faculty and student leaders to Admission Open Houses • Featured DEI presentations in all internal Open House events.
DECEMBER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (PD) • Sponsored 8 Buckley attendees at the NAIS People of Color Conference
STUDENT PROGRAMMING & SUPPORT • Sent 6 students to the Student Diversity Leadership Conference, the maximum allowed from each school
ADMISSION OUTREACH & FACULTY RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION • Invited prospective families to a DEI event
FACULTY & STAFF REFLECTION & GROWTH
EXTERNAL PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT These workshops and webinars were attended by faculty and staff since July: • Be About It: Unpacking White Privilege, Bias, and Anti-Racism Instruction • California Teacher Development Collaborative (CATDC) Anti-Racist Study Group: White Fragility • How to Be an Ally • CATDC Online: Equity as Excellence • CATDC: Transformative Voices: Educators for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion • A Seat at the Table with Education Week: Culturally Responsive Teaching: How to Improve Your Impact in the Physical or Virtual Classroom • Antiracism by Design: A Blink Webinar • A Gathering for White Women to Compassionately Explore Racial Injustice • Coaching for Equity • An Inquiry in Equity-Systemic Improvement During COVID-19 • Equity Belongs in Every Classroom • Pollyanna Conference: Courageous Conversations: Learning to Connect Authentically and with Compassion • White Anti-Racist Leadership Affinity Group for California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) Heads of School • What Does It Mean to Be an Anti-Racist Organization? A Series for Independent School Leaders hosted by CAIS • What it Means to Be Black in White Spaces hosted by CAIS
IN-HOUSE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS Since the start of school, our DEI Office has hosted these mandatory sessions for all faculty and staff bi-weekly: • The Elephant in the Room – Provided historic context behind our current civil rights movement, the Black Lives Matter movement, and our role as educators in understanding these efforts. • “Unpacking the @BlackAt Pages” – Asked faculty and staff to discuss the impact of the @BlackAtBuckley pages • “Anti-Racism on Buckley’s Campus” – Follow-up to the previous session, with a deeper dive into what anti-racism looks like on campus, within curriculum, and beyond Buckley. • “Anti-Racism and the Phases of Cultural Proficiency” – Highlighted the phases of cultural proficiency, including awareness, commitment, and action. • “Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors” – Considered curricular structures that consider how each student is reflected in each class. • “Baratunde Thurston & How to Deconstruct Racism” – Using the acclaimed thinker Thurston’s TED talk “How to Deconstruct Racism One Headline At A Time,” faculty and staff reflected on integrating actionable steps into their own practices on and off campus. • DEI Drop-In Zoom for faculty and staff – Provided fellowship in conversation surrounding DEI issues. • “Political Identity: In Conversation” – Discussed how to facilitate respectful dialogue within classrooms and beyond.
ANTI-RACISM AND THE PHASES OF CULTURAL PROFICIENCY In this session, faculty and staff were asked to reflect on the following and discuss in breakout rooms:
What are you doing to ensure a sense of belonging for all students in your classroom?
How are you celebrating your own identity within the curriculum?
What kind of courage can you generate within yourself to look at the differences between your intentions and your actions?
How do you define anti-racism for yourself?
RESPONSE TO @BLACKATBUCKLEY Faculty and staff were asked how they felt when reading the posts on the @BlackAtBuckley Instagram page. A few thoughts expressed:
“I’d like to believe that none of the comments on @BlackAtBuckley are about me or my class, but I need to be open to the fact that they could be and self-reflect on that and think about what I can do about it.”
“Will there be longlasting substantive change dismantling the systems of oppression at Buckley and elsewhere or just more talk? We must look at academic tracking, retention of students of color, and an equitable K–12 experience…”
“Heart-wrenching that this happens under our watch.”
“In addition to a wellness approach, how can we incorporate traumabased strategies into our teaching?”
THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE
CURRICULAR IMPROVEMENTS INCLUSIVE CURRICULUM • Weekly Lower School assemblies focused on Latinx Heritage Month, Native American Heritage month, Spirit Day, and more. • The Young Adult (YA) version of Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped From the Beginning, adapted with Jason Reynolds, was incorporated into seventh and eighth grade history curricula. Students learn essential terms such as racist, anti-racist, assimilationist, segregationist, uplift suasion, and social construct. Discussion prompts include, “What are the consequences of continual omissions about the history of racism and anti-racism in the United States?” • Middle School Advisory content focused this year on relationship-building, identity expression, civil discourse, and being an advocate.
“It makes you think about what it must be like to walk in someone else’s shoes.”
FIFTH GRADE STUDENT
“This is the first history book I’ve liked.”
SEVENTH GRADE STUDENT
• United States History classes added the New York Times “1619 Project,” which presents US History from the arrival of the first slave ship in 1619 and highlights the effects of slavery and civil rights on our history, constitution and governance. • Breadth of identities and voices affirmed through the English department curriculum 6–12 and K–5 read-alouds.
CURRICULAR IMPROVEMENTS REQUIRED DEI SYMPOSIA All Middle and Upper School students attended developmentally appropriate DEI symposia in October, programmed by the DEI Office. In Upper School, two school days were devoted to the symposia. • Slide from Middle School presentation: “Staying Positive in a Bananas World.”
• Slide from Lower School presentation: “Black Superheroes.”
• Slide from Upper School presentation: “Exploring Justice through Social Change and Identity.”
DEI SYMPOSIA, OCTOBER 2020 EXPLORING JUSTICE THROUGH SOCIAL CHANGE AND IDENTITY All Upper School students spent two school days attending the following four symposia in rotating sessions. They also watched and discussed the documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble.
THE REALITY OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE IDENTITIES What parts of your identity do you share in public and what parts do you choose not to? Come learn about how some people navigate the complexities of identity. Please make sure you have a paper and pen with you for this session.
WAKING UP IS HARD TO DO White. Male. Heterosexual. Ivy-League Educated. From his position at the intersection of great privilege, one teacher traces his ongoing journey from what he thought he knew from growing up in Berkeley, CA, the seeming cradle of progressive idealism, to the realization of how much his straight, white male lens limited—and still limits—his understanding of how the world works.
UNDERSTANDING ANTISEMITISM IN 2020: A DISCUSSION Understanding antisemitism, let alone becoming an upstander in the face of encountering antisemitism, often feels confusing and daunting, especially as incidents of antisemitism are perpetrated by people whose views span the political spectrum. This symposium aims to provide clarity as to what antisemitism is (and therefore isn’t) by addressing some of the growing and alarming instances of antisemitism in America. With a foundation of knowledge, the hope is that students, faculty, and staff may feel better equipped to begin to be allies and accomplices.
THE CATEGORY IS LOVE! By using the power of story to highlight LGBTQ+ identity on campus, this symposium will span many generations. Students and faculty share their experiences from the 1970s through today, and include movie clips, music, important political achievements, recent Supreme Court decisions, and transgender experiences—especially women of color. Presenters will use this space to celebrate influential change-makers.
STUDENT FEEDBACK Upper School students reflected on this year’s DEI Symposia and what diversity, equity, and inclusion mean to them.
“One thing I took away from the John Lewis documentary was that he didn’t just accept the system or laws that were established during that time, he got into trouble, good trouble, for what he believed in.”
“Diversity, Equity and Inclusion means to me that all students are seen, heard, and valued and that all are treated respectfully regardless of their race, sexual orientation and socio-economic status, etc.”
“A big part of DEI is creating empathy for one another and not necessarily pitying someone’s situation or struggles, but rather taking the time to learn about their struggles and figuring out how you can help.” “I want to learn about other people’s backgrounds as well as engage in my own identity. I’ve learned how to take action on social justice issues and use my voice for impactful change.”
“Education in diversity, equity and inclusion means the development of empathy, leadership and awareness that give you the ability to advance justice worldwide. It means having the resources to grow up in a world as you advocate for its betterment.”
UPCOMING WORK
SPRING 2021 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (PD) • Develop an ongoing and sequential plan of DEI training for all faculty, beginning with a baseline training during new faculty/staff orientation that sets awareness of the school mission, the value of DEI within Buckley, and clear expectations for all faculty and staff. • Include among the competencies of a DEI professional development (PD) plan: implicit bias, stereotype threat, intent vs. impact, systemic and structural racism, gender identities, cultural appropriation, inflicted and experienced trauma, socio-economic difference, and understanding of sexual orientation. • Establish a required professional development for all faculty and staff to enhance communication skills and cultural competency in their interactions with each other, with students and in developing curriculum.
STUDENT PROGRAMMING & SUPPORT • Create processes to review social-emotional health and address proficiency of identifying risk and competency of counselors and faculty/staff involved in the process to manage trauma, bias, etc. • Create clear and defined channels of communication for students to access help, guidance and/or support. • Examine trends, issues, and themes in attrition of students of color and other minoritized groups. • Include college counseling on the topic of race and college admission and its impact on Buckley students and school culture. Coordinate curriculum and the student experience to create continuity in scope and sequence. • Form a volunteer faculty and staff DEI Task Force to extend leadership and ownership of DEI throughout the community.
SPRING 2021 ADMISSION OUTREACH & FACULTY RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION • Establish a recruitment pipeline with Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCU) and with colleges or universities from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and/or similar organizations. • Review the mentoring program for new faculty and staff and revise with an eye to more frequent check-ins and social opportunities. • Develop a more accurate method to identify the multiple aspects of faculty/ staff members’ identity. • Per National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), conduct census of student body that includes race, gender, and ethnic identity • Develop a mechanism to gather information about the experience of faculty and staff who identify as BIPOC, multi-racial and use findings to enhance their work and overall culture at Buckley.
ON-GOING GOALS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (PD) • Establish regular, required professional development for all faculty and staff to enhance communication skills and cultural competency in their interactions with one another and with students.
STUDENT PROGRAMMING & SUPPORT • Regularly examine course offerings to ensure that instruction includes global, diverse, inclusive, culture-specific and topical programs throughout all curricula. • Strengthen advisory and affinity group advisor training to provide tools of cultural competency and methods to better support students.
ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT • Build parent and alumni understanding of the importance of DEI to the school, to academic excellence, and to their child’s experience.
ADMISSION OUTREACH & FACULTY RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION • Seek out all forms of diversity in curating the Buckley student body, so that it reflects an array of backgrounds, experiences, and talents. • Broaden the recruitment scope of students who identify as black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC), LGBTQ, those with varying physical ability, religious beliefs, socio-economic backgrounds, family structure, and national origin. • Assign an admission officer to focus on the recruitment and yield of BIPOC students. • Continually review the most effective and beneficial distribution of financial aid. • Review content of the application form, online messaging, and events that showcase the DEI experience at Buckley. • Review all print and online materials to determine how we may better highlight Buckley and provide a more compelling and attractive invitation to BIPOC families. • Regularly include and evaluate an age-appropriate question on student applications regarding their cultural competency and their awareness and support of Buckley’s DEI mission. • Conduct searches for new faculty and staff that will yield the broadest pool of diverse candidates. • Encourage and support new faculty connections to SoCal People of Color in Independent Schools, Private School Village, NAIS People of Color Conference and introduce to Buckley’s Heritage Families.
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