Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement

The following statement was created by Swallowtail School’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and was approved unanimously by the faculty and staff on June 22, 2020:

 We recognize the systemic injustices and many forms of oppression that exist for people of color and we stand with those who are calling for change. As educators, we bear a particular responsibility to fight against inequality and injustice, but we have too long allowed ourselves to be passive. We acknowledge our silence in the realm of racial and social justice and we know we have significant work to do as a school. 

We are committed to making changes that will bring anti-racism to the forefront of our community values. To be anti-racist is different from being "not racist." Anti-racism actively steps away from the status quo to work against the racial bias that permeates systems like education. As we plan for the coming year we commit to these changes:

• Curriculum: We will work grade by grade to include the voices and experiences that are missing from our curriculum and bring the topic of social justice more overtly into the classroom.
  

• School Environment: We will re-envision our space from top to bottom: from the books on the shelves to the colors of crayons and the art on the walls.
  

• Staff Development: We have chosen anti-racism for our topic of weekly faculty self study this year. We need to practice having these conversations with each other so we can begin to have these conversations in our classrooms.

This is an ongoing journey and it will be important not to lose momentum. We encourage our families to take up this same work in your homes - start where you are, have conversations, be uncomfortable, make mistakes and learn from them.

It is time.