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From the FREEP
Diversity at The School in Rose Valley
I grew up in a tiny suburb south of Boston where a population that was "diverse" – had we been thinking about such things, which I assure you we weren't – might have been roughly understood to mean one that was "not 100% Catholic." My public elementary school of 600 included not a single African American, Asian, or Hispanic student, and for all I know, it may have actually been 100% Catholic. Although I'm pretty sure that couldn't have been true, the important thing is that we assumed it was. It didn't occur to us that difference might be a positive thing. That was never-mind-how-many years ago, and since then discourse about the value of diversity has evolved considerably, both in the larger world and at The School in Rose Valley.
A few years ago, SRV created a long-range plan delineating specific goals we felt were important to the school's future. Representatives of the entire SRV community, including students, alumni, neighbors, staff, parents, and board members, united to help clarify the values and goals we wanted to make central to the school over the next few years. One strand of that plan explicitly stated that the school was embracing a commitment to increase the diversity of our student body. At the time, we emphasized ethnic and racial diversity, and while we maintain our commitment to support of a racially varied enrollment, it has become increasingly clear that we must also consider how well we support diversity in its other, more subtle forms.
Thinking about issues of diversity raises questions both interesting and difficult. I recently spent a year consulting in a Quaker school which had posted anti-war signs prominently across its campus. This school was located not far from a Naval Air Station, and had at least one family of children who lived on the military base and whose father would arrive at school for drop-off and pick-up in full regulation camouflage. Already isolated by restrictions prohibiting civilians from entering the base (no play dates, no sleepovers, no friends over to the house for dinner) the children also attended a school that may have appeared indifferent or even hostile toward them. I often wondered how it felt to that family to enter the school grounds, and whether we had done anything to make sure they understood that their safety and well-being were as important to the community as the expression of anti-war sentiment. I also began to wonder, as I continue to do, whether there are families or groups who feel undervalued or systematically ignored at SRV. Does our school feel more welcoming to certain families than to others? Do our school traditions and culture acknowledge a changing community, and can we alter those traditions without losing the essence of who we are? Are there values we must we share in order to be a strong community, and if so, which ones are they? How are we doing in our attempt to create a community that is both diverse and unified?
The Parent Community Organization and the Diversity Committee invite you to discuss these and other questions about diversity at the next PCO meeting on Monday, March 12 at 6:30 in Grace. Please come share your experiences and listen to those of others. Give us your thoughts on what we're doing well and how we might do better. Childcare will be provided free of charge. Our childcare provider, Science and Sports teacher Dawn Knipmeyer, has graciously made herself available so that we can stretch the meeting to 8:00 if necessary. We hope you will attend this important community event.
