The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Journey

This article was originally featured in the 2019-2020 edition of Carroll Connection. In this edition we asked our community members to share their journey before, during, and after Carroll School and we shared journey timelines for key school initiatives.

At Carroll School, we value, appreciate, and celebrate difference and strive to create a community that is safe and reflective of the rich and robust diversity of our 21st century world. In 2016, we committed to this by taking strategic action towards a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative. Here are some early mile markers of our DEI journey.

DEI Timeline

2016-2017: Lead administration engages in 30 hours of training with the Multicultural Teaching Institute (MTI).

“Having the MTI facilitators hold us accountable, challenge our thinking, and build trust among colleagues were essential elements of the training. Recognizing that we are always on this journey is what allows us to be more effective school administrators.” ~Judi Seldin, Assistant Head of School

2016: Carroll School begins sending lead administration and interested faculty and staff to multiple DEI-related conferences, events, and trainings. This continues today.

“I went to the SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) New Leaders training. A major takeaway was that our curriculum walks through our door every day. The kids are bringing so much into our classrooms each day and we need to recognize, celebrate, and educate each other.” ~Lizzy Pond, 4th Grade Language Teacher

April 2017: Osamagbe Osagie begins her journey as Carroll’s Director of Equity and Inclusion.

November 2017: Carroll Middle School students present a workshop about learning differently at the AISNE Student Diversity Conference.

“The conference was awesome! I learned several strategies to identify racially sensitive situations and have used some of them to resolve heated conflicts between friends and classmates.” ~Maddie Gibson, 7th Grade

Winter 2018: The Reading about Diversity (RAD) program starts in the Lower School. RAD brings in volunteer parents to read and discuss books about diversity and inclusion.

“RAD is the perfect program to get kids talking and learning about differences. The respect and discussions that are being shared in the classroom are honest and open. It’s wonderful to see.” ~DeDe Anderson, Parent of 5th Grader

Winter/Spring 2018: Administration leads Professional Learning Community (PLC) book groups for the entire faculty and staff, a first at Carroll. The book groups read and discuss Gary Howard’s We Can’t Teach What We Don’t Know. Simultaneously, Osa works with 15 volunteer faculty and staff members, training them to become PLC leaders of their peers in 2018-2019.

“Training to become a PLC leader helped me to connect with colleagues in deep and meaningful ways, even though sometimes topics got ‘uncomfortable’ or were really serious.” ~Antoinette Garcia, Admissions Associate
 

May 2018: Ruby Bridges visits Carroll School to share her experiences as a civil rights activist.

November 2018: Board of Trustees engages in their first ever extensive training on DEI during the 2018 Board Retreat. Training is led by Dr. Elizabeth Denevi.

School Year 2018/2019: Carroll’s faculty and staff of color meet 1-2 each month as an affinity group.

“Being part of our affinity group - which brings together diverse identities and voices - has definitely further strengthened my feeling of belonging within the Carroll community.” ~Sara Makiya, Cognitive Intervention & Research Specialist

School Year 2018/2019: Carroll School is proud to welcome a more racially and socioeconomically diverse student and adult population.

Read & Watch Videos from Carroll Connection 2019-2020