DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

We understand diversity to be about representation and creating a community reflective of the city, country and global context we are a part of as a school. We understand equity as the work of creating access and providing resources so everyone has what they need to be successful. We understand inclusion to be putting policies, practices and programs in place to create a culture of belonging.

Bias and systems of oppression impact our self-perception, our teaching, our learning, and how we live in and experience the world. Our ability to educate each other about our own biases, and how these perceptions create barriers and opportunities, is core to our learning. 

We hope every person who is a part of the Calhoun community learns and lives these tenets of anti-bias education (Anti-Bias Education for Young Children and Ourselves; Derman-Sparks, Edwards, Goins 2020):

• Demonstrates self-awareness, pride and positive social identities;
• Expresses comfort and joy with human diversity, uses accurate language for human differences, and forms caring connections across all dimensions of human diversity;
• Recognizes unfairness (injustice), has language to describe unfairness, and understands that unfairness hurts;
• Demonstrates a sense of empowerment and the skills to act, with others or alone, against prejudice and/or discriminatory actions.

Our approach to diversity, equity and inclusion work aspires to be justice-minded, generative and imaginative. Together we explore identity, systems that create and sustain inequities, and complex solutions. Love, joy and connection are core to our DEI efforts. Without them, our work is without purpose.

As a private school, we recognize that there is a unique tension in our diversity, equity and inclusion work. It requires us to be honest and open about our capacities and areas for growth. It shows us where the boundaries of this work can be and the challenges we will continue to face. It shows us that the work will never be finished and that our aspirations and hopes need to continue to push us toward new possibilities. We will always have work to do. 

A few highlights from our program are:

• DEI team representatives in every division that work closely with the DEI Director and Division Directors
• Culturally responsive curriculum that creates windows and mirrors for students across all divisions
• Racial affinity groups in all of our divisions for students, employees, and parents/guardians; affinity groups for other aspects of identity including gender, sexual orientation, family structure and religion
• Student-initiated activities like clubs, publications, and the Diversity and Accountability Board, a group of 9th-12th grade students that partners with administrators to support DEI work in the Upper School
• DEI-related professional learning and development for employees, including in-house, local and national programs like the NYSAIS Diversity Symposium and NAIS People of Color Conference
• Community assemblies and gatherings focused on DEI matters, such as awareness and heritage months, student-created programming, and guest speakers, artists, activists and thought leaders who present and lead discussions
• Protocols to support and uplift institutional DEI work, like our gender diversity practices, our incidents of bias reporting form, and curricular mapping
• Strategic plan components that strive to create equity learning benchmarks across all divisions

We strive to be proactive in addressing societal inequities by validating, supporting and responding to the varying needs of our diverse and complex community. A necessary part of our work is openly acknowledging and unpacking societal inequities in our country. By identifying the concrete ways this reality impacts each member of our community, we create more open, honest and real connections for our students, employees and families.