DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION & BELONGING UPDATE

Dear York School Community,

Three years ago, The York School committed to increasing and improving our understanding of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI) and Belonging as a school community (see link to last year’s DEI update). While our monthly DEI Newsletter (shared in The Flash) is designed to provide snapshots of our work, as the 2022-23 school year draws to a close, we would like to take this opportunity to update you on our progress and look ahead to next year.

Having completed the CAIS and IB accreditations in November, we received praise for the positive changes that have taken place, including the following from the Chair of the CAIS Visiting Committee:

“The York School is a gem. Although small in carat, significant positive changes in the past five years have created a finely cut school of exquisite clarity. From the Junior School to Senior School, from the youngest student to the most experienced member of the Board, The York School engenders strong feelings of affection and pride. The York School is well governed, purposeful in its academic rigour and adherence to the IB programme and maintains a comfortable school environment that is described as: inclusive, progressive, supportive and global”.

The Board of Directors and Leadership Team of the school, as well as many members of staff, have been focused on taking the CAIS/IB accreditation recommendations and writing a new strategic plan for York. One of the most important recommendations from both our self study and the CAIS report was to review and update our mission, vision and values, which were first established by the school in 2007. We are pleased to share that we have completed this task and shared the updated ones with student and staff focus groups as well as the Board of Directors who wholeheartedly feel that the new mission, vision and values reflect York’s progressive nature and culture of belonging and inclusivity. We are excited to share the newly updated mission, vision and values with the community when we launch the new strategic plan in the fall.

The chart below highlights more of the work that has been implemented or is on-going. It is grouped into four categories which reflect the four pillars of our Interim Strategic Plan, which will be completed in June 2023. The Interim Strategic Plan Wrap Up Report was shared with our community last month, and we welcome you to review it again to see how our school has progressed since 2021.