“True community is based upon equality, mutuality, and reciprocity. It affirms the richness of individual diversity as well as the common human ties that bind us together.” — Pauli Murray, Civil Rights Activist
The work of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is one that requires community, builds community and strengthens community. This work, involving all of us, is not a one-time, nor a one-year effort. Rather, It is ongoing work that is rooted in our mission and essential to ensuring that each and every student thrives and fulfills their greatest potential at the school.
Today, the Lycée is working to confront questions of diversity, equity and inclusion at all levels. Our efforts began several years ago with the creation of faculty and staff, as well as, student diversity committees. We developed programs, such as the Day of Understanding, sent teams to national and local conferences, including the People of Color Conference, Student Diversity Leadership Conference and the Dalton School’s Diversity Conferences, broadened our Cultural Center programming for students, and took a closer look at our curriculum and library holdings. On an operational level, we significantly expanded our financial aid offerings to increase socio-economic diversity in the school, and also began a concerted effort to broaden the diversity of our faculty and staff.
These actions have moved the school in a positive direction, but we know, from stories our students shared on Instagram and directly with our head of school this summer and conversations about belonging taking place at school, that our efforts must deepen, and must do so apace, with clear objectives and accountability for all.
This year, I will take on leadership of the school’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee of faculty and staff, and I look forward to doing this work with them, with the care and contributions of many.
Here’s a look at what we have planned in the year ahead:
Deepening the work of our faculty-staff DEI Committee
The Lycée’s Faculty and Staff Diversity Committee is a diverse group of faculty and staff from our Primary, Secondary, and Administrative teams. Building on 2019-20 community-wide activities with Dr. Derrick Gay, an expert DEI practitioner working with international schools, 40 new volunteers will be part of our committee work this year, and our goals are in four areas:
- Equitable experiences for students: developing reporting mechanisms, resources, and establishing avenues of support.
- Communications: keeping our community better apprised of our DEI activities and diversifying the voices represented on our website, our blog, and social media accounts.
- Curriculum: developing classroom resources more reflective of diversity, and curating resources and creating programs that promote equity & inclusion.
- Research and Development: looking to other schools and organizations to implement processes, procedures, and mechanisms around accountability and best practices
A Focus on Dialogue and Training
Lycée students have been remarkable leaders in our DEI efforts. Their voices and their engagement were a catalyst for much school activity this spring. However, it is the school’s responsibility to take action, as Evelyne Estey, our head of school has said, and that is precisely what we intend to do.
At pre-Rentrée, our faculty and staff took part in several trainings on implicit bias and building more inclusive classrooms with the Morningside Center for Teaching Social Responsibility. We reflected on where we have been unsuccessful so far, and explored the Montgomery Equitable Classroom Practices framework. On Professional Development Day, the Lycée team took part in discussion groups by division on positive and sustainable capacity-building approaches to the work of inclusive practices. We hope that this becomes institutionalized within the school, and to offer further training for our students and also to our parents.
While our work builds on stories about the experiences of our Black students, we aim to address the many aspects of diversity represented in our school, including race, religion, culture, gender, sexual orientation, age, and so on, through an intersectional approach.
Faculty Grants on Anti-Bias Education, Shared Vocabulary, and Community-Wide Activities
This year, two teachers, Cassandre Milard, Primary Specialized-Support Teacher, and Portia Morrell, Secondary Computer Science Teacher, have been given year-long research grants to work on anti-bias training across the school, and to develop a clear, shared vocabulary for the school’s DEI work. Both grants will operate within our cross-cultural context, and review how all aspects of our DEI work — faculty-staff committee, student clubs, parent committees and our Board Diversity Task Force — can work together to advance our DEI goals.
Bringing New Perspectives into Our Curriculum
We want to examine the connection points between our French-American curricula, project-based focus, and diversity, equity and inclusion. Dr. Arthur Plaza, Head of the History-Geography Department, received a grant on “Curriculum Mapping, Faculty Coaching, and Harmonization of the Student Experience” this year. With a bird’s eye view of the curriculum at all grade levels, he will be able to examine areas where we can broaden perspectives represented in our curriculum, including at the national level in the American section of the International Option of the French Baccalauréat (OIB) program.
The Cultural Center plays an essential role here, too, as it works to bring new voices and fresh perspectives in culture, history, and government for our students, families, alumni and surrounding community. Building on a highly successful panel on systemic racism in June, DEI is a key theme of the year for Cultural Center student conferences, evening panels, film screenings, artists in residence, and concerts. We look forward especially to the December international concert, “Voices of Francophonie,” a live broadcast of world music organized in partnership with the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie.
Support to Parents
Our parents are essential partners in this work. The school will be working closely with the APL to develop programming on DEI for our parents. These initiatives will help parents of many different backgrounds navigate their experience at the Lycée and also provide resources and training to continue conversations about race, diversity, and inclusion at home.
The work began in August with the first of a series of affinity group listening conversations. The aim was to give our parents a safe space in which to discuss their experiences and also find ways to build parent engagement into our DEI efforts.
Getting Involved
“While it is not enough to be a community of many countries, it is fertile ground to stamp out racism and discrimination,” as Evelyne Estey, Head of School, wrote in her July letter to the community. Indeed, it takes a village, not a certain group of people to be looked to, to do this work. It’s a commitment for the whole community, faculty, staff, students, parents, Board, and the administration.
This work is a sustained effort. We look forward to sharing our actions through the year ahead, and to being held accountable to these actions.
About the Author :
Clarissa Sylvestre ’98 is the chair of the staff Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee. A Lycée alum, she works as the Manager of Accounts Receivable and Financial Aid, providing her with a unique view of the Lycée that impacts all her work in diversity, equity, and inclusion.