Updates
This summer has been difficult - for our country as we face our history of racism and its long and destructive reach, and for our King community as we have faced the reality of the many ways we have fallen short in building an inclusive community for all of our students, families and colleagues. Our responsibility is to continue not only to proclaim without hesitation that Black Lives Matter, but to take clear and visible action towards making good on our commitment to equity and inclusion on our own campus. The voices of our Middle and Upper School students, colleagues, alumni, and parents at the forums we hosted were clear: King needs to be better, and an incredible number of the King community members has stepped up to help us make positive changes and hold us accountable. As we go forward together, our commitment to all of you is to keep listening to your perspectives and suggestions, and to take every opportunity to prioritize our commitment to social justice by educating, and by continuing to become better educated myself. As an anti-racist school, we will move beyond talk and take meaningful action. We will continue to update all of you on the concrete actions we are taking as a school to do a better and more visible job of fulfilling these commitments. Below is a summary of the steps we have taken this summer and the communications we've shared over the last few months.
DEI Activity
- DEI Task Force
- Increasing Staffulty Diversity
- New DEI Positions
- Educating our Staffulty
- Summer Reading
- Affinity Groups
- Social Justice Film Screenings for US Students and Staffulty
- Conversations with Alumni
- Inclusion Action Plan
DEI Task Force
We have a commitment to take concrete action that will foster an anti-racist and authentically inclusive learning community here at King School.
In order to do this work, we have convened a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Task force. The major responsibility of the DEI Task Force will be to define the goals, strategies, tactics, and benchmarks of the Inclusion pillar in the King School Strategic Plan, and will support progress on the Academic Excellence and Identity pillars of the plan as well.
DEI Task Force Members
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Co-Chairs: Rachel Jean-Baptiste P ‘21 and Gilles Chosson
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Trustees: Tom King, Board Chair, P ‘20, ‘20, ‘23, Mi-Sun Freeman, P ‘29, ‘22
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Current parent: God-is Rivera, P ‘29
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Alumni: Anthony Williams, '85, Brandi Lawrence, ‘98, and Dana Hill, '05
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Faculty colleagues: Lisa DiGirolami, Katie Tobin, and Adam Boaz
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Staff colleagues: Lakeya Graves, Lisa Nero, Karen Eshoo
The DEI Task Force will meet regularly to produce a 2-3 year action plan that will be shared with the community this fall. We also created working groups - which will include DEI Task Force members along with other colleagues, trustees, parents, alumni, and Middle School and Upper School students - that will design specific policies and programs for our four priorities written below. The working groups will meet weekly over the summer to make significant progress towards our goals, and will report that progress to the DEI Task Force for feedback, guidance, and direction. The DEI Task Force will share the proposals that emerge from our work with the Board of Trustees and the Leadership Team in the fall so that we can implement positive changes as quickly as possible. They are using a lot of the historical information that has been collected over the years including a 2015 Survey done by the National Association of the Independent School, a 2017 DEI Strategic Plan, notes from community forums with current Middle and Upper School students, Parents, Alumni, and Staffulty, a demand letter from Black at King and current initiatives operating at King.
1. Culture:
Designing and implementing a systemic approach for tangible institutional change. This will include, but will not be limited to, behavioral expectations and accountability for colleagues, students, and families; advisory for students in grades 6-12; and counseling approaches for all students. Working group chair: Karen Eshoo, Head of School
Students: Milei Wyatt (US) ‘21 and Zuri Giddings (MS) ‘26
Staffulty: Laura Bowe, Josh Deitch
Alumnae: Jamie Lopez ‘18 and Dana Hill ‘05
Trustee: Tom Conheeney P ‘18, P'15, P'15
Parent: Mini Nunna P ‘22
2. Curriculum:
Creating an academic and social-emotional learning framework that aligns with the goals set forth in the Academic Excellence pillar of the Strategic Plan, and that engages teachers and students in anti-racist and social justice education as necessary components of inclusive academic excellence. Working group chair: Gilles Chosson, Director of Global Studies, Director of Summer Institute, World Languages Faculty
Staffulty: Adam Boaz (US), Carol Brown ‘87 (MS), P'10, P'13, Lisa DiGirolami (LS), Sandy Lizaire-Duff (LS Head), Elizabeth Messinger (US), Patrick O’Neal (US),
Student: Wafa Nomani ‘21
Alumnae: Melissa Ross ‘06
Trustee: Dan Ozizmir, P ‘22
3.Human Resources, Recruitment and Retention of Staffulty and Students:
Critically examine and refine our practices to recruit, retain, and ensure the academic and professional success of increased numbers of staffulty and students of color, to ensure that the learning community of King reflects the demographics and talents of our complex, global world? Working group chair: Rachel Jean-Baptiste, Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Colleagues: Jessica Landis, Lisa Nero, Dana Thomas, Craig Tunks
Alumnae: Brandi Lawrence ‘98 and Kishuana Soljour ‘09
Parent: Nirbay Kumar, P ‘24
Trustee: Mi-Sun Freeman, P ‘29, ‘22
4. Communications and Community Engagement:
Improve our ability to convey our values effectively to key constituents, and to bring stakeholders together. Working group co-chairs: God-is Rivera P, ‘29, Global Director of Community Engagement at Twitter and Lakeya Graves, Director of Marketing
Colleagues: Caitlin Halle, Ted Parker, P ‘34, ‘34, Karen Raidt, P '20, P '23, Stephen Sheehan ‘07, Katie Tobin, P ‘35
Alumna: Ashley Alebiosu ‘08
Trustee: Eric Gerster P ‘22
Increasing Staffulty Diversity
Dr. Jean-Baptiste established new protocols for recruitment and hiring of new colleagues this year that included required anti-bias training for all Leadership Team members and Department Chairs involved in the hiring process; she will continue to lead all colleagues in required anti-bias training next year and in the future. All representatives of the Parents' Association will receive that training as well. She also will continue to partner with Lisa Nero, our Director of Human Resources, to ensure that our job postings have been reviewed to make them as equitable as possible, and to grow our partnerships with recruiters who can help us build the most diverse pool of candidates for every division.
New DEI Positions
We have established a team of staffulty - who will work with our Director of DEI, Dr. Rachel Jean-Baptiste - to serve as curriculum and programing coordinators for our DEI initiatives across all divisions and departments. They will help to support colleagues in making our curriculum, pedagogy/coaching, and school culture a reflection of our commitment to inclusive excellence (IE) in providing access to and delivering a high quality education for all students. The concept of IE has taken shape over the past decade in some of the most renowned higher education institutions, which provided a launching pad that attracted talented students from our diverse, global world and produced innovative research and learning. This framework entails intentional and ongoing work that fosters respect for and knowledge of varied cultures, perspectives, and identities so that schools, students, families, and staffulty can thrive. Defining inclusive excellence at King is essential for achieving the goals of our Strategic Plan - it is a need-to-have, not a nice-to-have. The DEI Team will partner with constituencies across our PK-12 community to develop and implement initiatives that increase our collective cross-cultural competence, skills that we all need in order to provide high quality education, coaching, and professionalism for the 21st century. Areas of focus include racial, global, and gender literacies, as well as increasing our consciousness of how ability, socio-economic status, belief and other areas of diversity or inequity impact childhood/adolescent development and workplace culture.
- Lower School DEI Coordinator: Cara Grimaldi
- Middle School DEI Coordinator: Stephanie Hoos
- Upper School DEI Coordinator Humanities, Social Sciences, Performing Arts and Visual Arts and Design: Lindsay Stone
- All-School Math DEI Coordinator: Sara O'Toole
- All-School Science and Computer Science and Digital Applications DEI Coordinator: Rebaca Varghese
- All-School Athletics DEI Coordinator: Nate Jean-Baptiste
Educating our Staffulty
- All Staffulty will engage in our own development in cultural competence and anti-racism this summer. We will continue to learn, and to implement what we have learned, consistently during the year. These plans include the following:
- All staffulty will engage in mandatory professional growth and development training in anti-racist and equitable mindsets and practices over the summer, using materials from different organizations that are most relevant to our particular professional roles (eg: teachers, Development team members, Division Heads, etc.)
- Lower School and Middle School faculty will train this summer, using the Pollyanna Racial Literacy Curriculum, to incorporate racial literacy and inclusive course content across disciplines PreK-8. PreKindergarten and Kindergarten staffulty will also participate in these trainings to develop age-appropriate content.There will be follow-up training, implementation, and surveys during opening staffulty meetings and over the course of the 2020-2021 school year.
- Upper School faculty will train this summer with materials from the Institute for Teaching Diversity and Social Justice. Beginning with opening staffulty meetings and continuing over the course of the 2020-2021 school year, colleagues will complete experiential and interaction-driven training in increasing their awareness on matters of individual and institutional bias, thereby empowering them to contribute directly to building and perpetuating an inclusive culture that improves student outcomes and the overall climate of the school community.
- All staffulty are required to read at least one book on racial literacy this summer - a list of which has been compiled by Dr. Jean-Baptiste and includes suggestions from many other colleagues. We will share out what we have learned and how we can incorporate new insights as a whole group, and in our respective divisions/departments, during opening staffulty meetings.
Summer Reading
Upper School Students
Entering Grade 9
- Required: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Entering Grade 10
- Required 201 & 200: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Entering Grade 11
- Required 301: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- English 350 (AS American Literature and Language)
Required: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Required: The Narrative of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
Entering Grade 12
- All Senior Electives: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- English 500 (AP Literature)
Required: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Required: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
- English 520 (AS Persuasive Writing)
Required: Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
Required: It Was All a Dream: A New Generation Confronts the Broken Promise to Black America by Reniqua Allen
Teaching Faculty
- Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson (required in all divisions)
- The Innovator’s Mindset: Empower Learning, Unleash Talent, and Lead a Culture of Creativity by George Couros (required in LS
- The Things You Can See Only When You Slow Down by Haemin Sunim (required in the LS)
Choose at least 1 of the following:
- Born A Crime by Trevor Noah (Young reader or adult’s version)
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
- The 1619 Project
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
- Sing a Rhythm
- Dance a Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls
- Pushout, a documentary
Non-Teaching Staff
Choose at least 1 of the following:
- Born A Crime by Trevor Noah (Young reader or adult’s version)
- White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
- The 1619 Project
- The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
- Sing a Rhythm
- Dance a Blues: Education for the Liberation of Black and Brown Girls
- Pushout, a documentary
Affinity Groups
What is an affinity group?
An affinity group is defined in Merriam Webster as “a group of people having a common interest or goal or acting together for a specific purpose.”
There are existing frameworks for affinity groups in a variety of independent schools, university alumni groups, and workplaces and corporations.
Why is an affinity group beneficial?
An affinity group can provide a safe space for participants to share their experiences, and to experience positive identity exploration, self-awareness, pride, community, and self-esteem in connecting with other people of similar interests, backgrounds, and experiences.
Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center, explains in this magazine article that “affinity groups offer a platform for voices often relegated to the margins.” The article also addresses the question of whether the structure of affinity groups in school is itself separatist and racist, by explaining: “The reason why affinity groups exist in the first place isn’t because students want to segregate themselves from the rest of the population… but because the population is excluding them to begin with. Gathering in safe spaces around shared identity allows students to engage in conversations about how they can subvert the structures that push them to the margins. In turn, these conversations “push the school to be more social-activist-oriented and less assimilationist-oriented.”
In the article “How Racial Affinity Groups Saved My Life,” Trina Moore-Southall, Director of Equity and Inclusion at Brentwood School in Los Angeles, provides her perspective on the role of affinity groups and, more broadly, to the experience of people of color in independent schools.
What affinity groups does King offer for Upper School students?
Many of the Upper School students who attended the 2019-2020 Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) helped to forge a program of affinity groups to help our community. The existing affinity groups include:
- The LGBTQIA+ Affinity group (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic
The LGBTQIA+ affinity group is meant to cultivate a safe space, and community where people who identify as LGBTQIA+ can discuss identity, sexuality, and the problems they face, all for the betterment of one another. Adult Advisor: Selina Policar. Email Ms. Policar at: spolicar@kingschoolct.org if you are interested in participating in the group.
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The Students of Color Affinity Group (SOCAG)
The SOCAG affinity group is meant to cultivate a safe space and community where students who identify as persons of color can discuss their own experiences, challenges, and issues that they confront as people and students of color. Adult Advisor: Adam Boaz. Email Mr. Boaz at aboaz@kingschoolct.org if you are interested in participating in the group.
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The Jewish Students Affinity Group (JSAG)
The JSAG affinity group is meant to be a safe space where people who identify as Jewish can connect and share concerns. People will discuss what it means to be Jewish to different people, learn about the history behind the religion, and the stereotypes that could be affecting people daily at school and in our lives. Adult Advisors: Daniel Block and Lindsey Rossler. Email Dr. Block at: dblock@kingschoolct.org if you are interested in participating in the group.
What affinity groups does King off for Middle School students?
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Students of Color at King (SOCK)
- A group designed as a safe space for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) on our campus to talk about current events and matters at King related to the joys as well as challenging experiences of being a Person of Color. Adult advisors: Lakeya Graves, Jennifer Guevara, and Kim Villard, email shoos@kingschoolct.org if you are interested in participating in the group.
- Jewish Student Union (JSU)
- A group designed as a safe space for students who identify as Jewish who would like to discuss matters related to pride in their ethno-religious identity as well as share common experiences related to current events, anti semitism, and/or other matters related to the experience of Jewish students at King.
- LGBTQIA+ & Allies (MS PRIDE)
- A group designed as a safe space for students who identify as LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual) as well as their allies to discuss current events, matters of homophobia / transphobia, and all manner of experiences related to the Queer community.
What affinity groups does King offer for alumni?
We are currently partnering with our alumni to offer the affinity groups listed below and to offer the opportunity for Alumni to suggest additional Alumni Association affinity groups for King to consider. Alumni can indicate their interest in an affinity group by completing this form. If you have questions, please contact Alumni Engagement Officer and Athletics Liaison Steve Sheehan ’07.
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Black Alumni Group (where those who identify as Black can share conversation and engage around shared identities and interests)
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Alumni of Color Group ( where those who identify as a person of color can share conversation and engage around shared identities and interests)
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Cross Racial Alumni Group for Social Justice (where any alumni interested in discussing social justice topics can share conversation)
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Alumnae Group (where those who identify as women can share conversation and engage around shared identities and interests)
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LGBTQIA+ Alumni Group (where those who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic can share conversation and engage around shared identities and interests.)
How can I join an affinity group at King?
Upper School students: If you are interested in participating in an existing affinity group, please contact the adult advisors listed in the question above. Upper School students who are interested in creating a new affinity group, please contact Jonathan Coulombe or Dr Rachel Jean-Baptiste.
Alumni: If you are interested in joining a King School Alumni Association Affinity Group, please complete this form. If you have questions, please contact Alumni Engagement Officer and Athletics Liaison Steve Sheehan ’07.
Additional King community members: If you are interested in participating in an affinity group, please contact Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Dr. Rachel Jean-Baptiste.
If you have questions about our DEI programs, please contact Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Dr. Rachel Jean-Baptiste. If you have questions about Alumni activities, please contact Alumni Engagement Officer and Athletics Liaison Steve Sheehan ’07.
Social Justice Film Screenings for US Students and Staffulty
Schedule
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Friday, June 19th: 11:30am-2pm. Film: 13th
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Monday, July 13th: 7pm-9:30pm. Film: Marshall
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Monday, August 3rd: 7pm-9:30pm. Film: The Hate U Give
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Monday, August 17th: 7pm-9:30pm. Film: True Justice
Stay Tuned for our Fall Schedule
See the School calendar for zoom meeting information.
Movie Screening Guides
13th
Marshall
Marshall
Available on Amazon
For those of you who watched 13th with us or on your own, it focuses largely on history and continuity of structural racism that is pervasive and destructive in the criminal justice system. We decided to show Marshall next in the film series to discuss how Black Americans have exerted their agency throughout history. The history of black people in this country is not one of victims, but of people with voices and agency. Additionally, the court case discussed in the film happened in Fairfield County, Connecticut. This case happened in our backyards less than 100 years ago.
Before we watch this film we want to give you a quick note on the NAACP and Thurgood Marshall.
The NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was founded in 1909 in response to the ongoing violence against Black people around the country. Their mission is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.
https://www.naacp.org/about-us/
Thurgood Marshall founded the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in 1940 and served as its first Director-Counsel. He was the architect of the legal strategy that ended the country’s official policy of segregation. Marshall was the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court on which he served as Associate Justice from 1967-1991 after he was successfully nominated by President Johnson.
https://www.naacpldf.org/about-us/history/thurgood-marshall/
In Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, Marshall successfully argued that separate was not equal, which legally overturned the doctrine of legal segregation in this country which had been established in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896.
As you watch and for your consideration afterwards:
Marshall, brings us to 1941 in the early days of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and World War II. Connecticut vs Spell takes us to Greenwich and Bridgeport. As we watch together, here are some questions to consider and we encourage you to draw parallels between Marshall and current events :
- Given the lynchings and overt racism in the South, why do you think Marshall took a case in CT?
- Why did Spell consider taking the plea deal?
- In what ways did anti-black racism factor into the trial?
- In “Stand for Something,” which plays in the film, the lyrics say “ It all means nothing If you don't stand up for something. You can't just talk the talk, You got to walk that walk “ What is the stand Marshall takes in the film? What is the stand these times ask people to take in 2020?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GhY7qXGx-0&list=RD2GhY7qXGx-0&start_radio=1
Resources:
Thurgood Marshall, Badass Lawyer: The Supreme Court justice may have left a stronger legacy off the bench.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/10/thurgood-marshall-badass/403189/
Chadwick Boseman on playing Thurgood Marshall and growing up in America as a black man
https://www.npr.org/2017/10/14/557832715/actor-chadwick-boseman-on-his-new-role-as-marshall
Who is the Floyd Family’s Lawyer
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/06/22/the-winningest-losing-civil-rights-lawyer
Amy Cooper played the damsel in distress. That trope has a troubling history. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/05/28/amy-cooper-played-damsel-distress-troubling-history-this-trope/
Woman Linked to 1955 Emmett Till Murder Tells Historian Her Claims Were False
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/27/us/emmett-till-lynching-carolyn-bryant-donham.html
The Hate U Give
- “The Talk
- Why do you think the creators/editors of this movie started with this scene?
- Identity and Code-Switching
- How does Starr have to change her identity when she’s at school? Have you ever felt like you had to change your identity (or perform “code-switching”) in order to feel safe and/or accepted?
- Interracial Relationships
- Why do interracial relationships make certain people uncomfortable? Why do certain people find these types of relationships threatening?
- “The Party” and THUGLIFE
- What’s interesting about the party scene?
- How is the anagram of THUGLIFE relevant to the movie and to our political atmosphere in the United States today?
- Khalil
- What factors differentiate Khalil’s experience in Garden Heights from Starr’s experience?
- The “Fried Chicken Joke
- How many times have you heard similar interactions at King?
- “I was only joking
- Overall, what do we make of Starr’s relationship with Hailey?
- The “Hairbrush” Scene
- How many times have you heard similar interactions at King?
- “The Trap
- How does this film reflect and explain elements of systemic racial injustice?
- “The Lawyer
- Why is Starr’s mother hesitant to allow Starr to testify before a grand jury?
- “The Protest”
- Why does Starr condemn her school’s attempt at a “protest”?
- Joy/Family/Agency - can we talk about the role of Starr’s father for a second?
- What moments of JOY AND FAMILY are there in this movie
- Talk about single motherhood - both groups (white and black) have shown increases in single-mother households since the 1960s...at about the same rate/proportion…
- What moments of “Black agency” are there in this film?
- What moments of JOY AND FAMILY are there in this movie
- Common as the uncle/police officer
- What do we think about his explanation of the “traffic stop” from the officer’s perspective? Why is this scene particularly important?
- The Riot and the Store Burning
- “It’s not the hate you give, it’s the hate we give.” What does this quote mean?
- King “got his” because “of the whole community.” What does Starr’s family do to try to help their neighborhood of Garden Heights?
- This book was banned in Texas…
- Why do you think this book was banned in Texas?
- How would you go about trying to stop this book from being banned if it was being banned in your neighborhood?
- What are the dangers of censorship?
RESOURCES
- https://www.commonsensemedia.org/blog/5-conversations-to-have-with-your-kids-after-the-hate-u-give
- https://www.vulture.com/2018/10/the-hate-u-give-review.html
- https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/movies/the-hate-u-give-expletive.html
- https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/10/the-hate-u-give-movie-starr-carter-black-girlhood/573319/
- https://www.vulture.com/2017/12/the-hate-u-give-katy-texas-school-district-ban.html
True Justice
Conversations with Alumni
Inclusion Action Plan
- Conduct an audit of communications and community activities to determine the most effective ways to educate the King community about DEI as a core value, and to ensure that all community members feel known and meaningfully included in all aspects of the school.
- Require training for staffulty, Board of Trustees, and Parent Association leaders on anti
bias practices, antiracism, and cultural competence. Develop accountability systems. Offer similar training and education to the greater parent community and to alumni. - Train teachers to teach to multiple perspectives in all grades PreK-12 - both in the academic and in the social-emotional realms - and to hold space effectively for difficult conversations about DEI and other challenging topics. Provide an education for all students that encourages research and analysis to develop informed perspectives and healthy, respectful dialogue and debate.
- Convene a task force - composed of colleagues, Trustees, students, and alumni - that will review and update language in our "espoused values" (mission statement, virtues, honor code, etc.) to ensure that the school's commitment to building a diverse, equitable and inclusive community is clear and unequivocal. Develop a shared language that will undergird our studies and dialogue.
- Develop and enhance recruiting and hiring processes to increase representation of underrepresented groups in the student body and in the staffulty, and develop benchmarks for increases over the next 3 years. Develop support structures for these groups to improve retention.
- Strengthen our policies and procedures for whistleblowing and reporting of discriminatory behavior by any member of the King community, and clarify accountability measures that will help foster a healthy school community.
- Annually perform an assessment of progress in each of these areas. Report that progress to the Board of Trustees and summarize those assessments for the broader King community.
See all communications regarding DEI:
- January 6, 2021 - Reflections on the Events of the Day
- October 28, 2020 - Board of Trustees Update
- August 26, 2020 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Update
- July 3, 2020 - DEI Task Force and Working Groups
- June 29, 2020 - BlackAtKing and Further Action
- June 23, 2020 - Non-discrimination statement and reporting
- June 13, 2020 - Equity and Inclusion Progress
- June 7, 2020 - Message from the Board of Trustees
- June 2, 2020 - Affirming our shared values: No Place for Racism
- June 2, 2020 - Affirming our Mission and Values