By 澳门威尼斯人博彩, Head of School
February 12, 2026

This year's schoolwide DEIB initiative puts the focus on inclusion and belonging, as we strengthen the bonds between 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 and our Chinatown neighbors. As we frequently note, our campus here at 838 Kearny Street is 澳门威尼斯人博彩 "forever home," and this year we are focusing on ways to build meaningful and lasting relationships between our school and the surrounding community. An important part of that relationship building is to develop ways for all constituents of the 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 community to get involved.

For some of our students, this means truly immersing themselves in the local culture. Our high school ASB liaison, Diana Garcia, coordinated with Deacon Simon Tsui of St. Mary's Chinese Language School so that 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 students could have the opportunity to march with their drill team and drum & bell corps for this year's Chinese Lunar New Year parades. An immersive way to learn the customs and traditions of this cultural holiday, rehearsals began in November during St. Mary's weekend "Saturday School" here on campus. Already the contingent has participated in the Richmond District parade, with the Chinatown Flower Market Fair coming up on Feb. 14, and the big Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown on March 7th. The grandstand for the CNY parade is always set up right outside of our main entrance, and we are honored that our students will be part of the event as it marches by this year.

Our faculty and staff have also been getting involved with the local community, organizing a pair of volunteer service projects that took place during our January professional development day. All teachers and administrators participated in either partnering with Refuse Refuse for a clean sweep of picking up trash throughout the neighborhood, or visiting our true neighbors at the I-Hotel to provide support to their staff and clientele during the facility's lunch service. These were ways to truly interact with the community around us and get our hands dirty…in some cases, literally so. All members of our staff participated, and provided feedback on ways that future outreach could be even more impactful.

Furthermore, I was joined by our Director of Advancement, Marketing, and Communications, Chris Myers, to present at the January meeting of the Chinatown Rotary Club. It was truly meaningful to share 澳门威尼斯人博彩 story with this active and involved service organization, and it sparked conversations about ways that our students and community can partner with the club on some of their initiatives. The impact of the Rotary Club is both local and global in scale, from organizing grocery drives for local food banks to providing humanitarian relief worldwide. I'm excited for the various ways 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 can integrate service learning opportunities into the work our local Rotary Club is doing. Special thanks to Janet Chen for facilitating this partnership. Janet is a trustee of the Chinatown Rotary Club, as well as a former 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 Board member and parent of a 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 Middle School alumna. She was instrumental in securing 澳门威尼斯人博彩 home here on Kearny Street, and you can read more about the Chen Family in our recent "50 Years, 50 Stories" 博彩动态 post.

Finally, we've been including announcements in our Monday Memo emails about Chinatown events and opportunities that are open to the broader 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 community (like the upcoming CNY Flower Market Fair). Likewise, we regularly include information on related cultural happenings throughout the Bay Area that our students and families can participate in or that simply may be of interest. Our campus is a permanent part of the neighborhood, which means that we are all part of the community fabric here in Chinatown. Please join us in supporting the local businesses, festivals, events, and volunteer opportunities—and share with us anything we may have missed!

As we look ahead into next semester, our teachers are developing some unique ways to incorporate the history and geography of Chinatown into their classroom curriculum, and I'm excited to continue to find ways for 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 to strengthen our volunteer and service learning connections throughout the local community.

Connecting With Our Chinatown Neighbors

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging—DEIB is still alive and well here at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网. These qualities have been fundamental to our school since its founding in 1976. And although 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 has grown and evolved significantly over the past 50 years, DEIB remains at the core of our mission and values.

If you know the 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 story, you know that our growth and evolution over those past fifty years has been reflected in the school's physical campus. There were a number of moves from 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网's initial one-room schoolhouse in 1976 to the six-floor downtown campus we now occupy here on Kearny Street. But in 2017, we signed a 99-year lease to make 838 Kearny our "forever home." In the spirit of truly connecting with the community, this year, we turn our DEIB focus to our Chinatown neighbors.

This year's initiative is to be inclusive of and belong to our neighborhood. Our Diversity Council, made up of faculty and staff, have some exciting plans in motion this year, and our Board's DEIB Committee is likewise partnering to make meaningful connections between 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 and Chinatown community. What's most exciting about this initiative is the variety of ways everyone can get involved.

• We encourage visits to the Chinatown Night Markets that take place on the second Friday of the month through October. The Chinatown Historical Society of America (CHSA) hosts/sponsors a number of events around town that we will be sharing in our Monday Memo updates.
• Check out Interior Chinatown on Hulu or visit the On Waverly bookstore (just up the street from campus) to pick up a copy of the book. Members of our faculty and staff read Charles Yu's acclaimed, locally-set novel over the summer and engaged in discussions about this multi-layered, multidimensional story.
• Our faculty has been developing ways to incorporate local history, culture, and traditions into class curriculum; we'll be sharing highlights throughout the year.
• We will organize service learning opportunities that connect our students and staff to the community, and plan experiential day trips to learn more about and celebrate the local culture. There is so much to explore!
• We plan to host special speakers and author visits, and partner with our literal neighbor, the historic International Hotel ("I-Hotel").

And we are always looking for ways to engage our parent, grandparent, and "Friends of 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网" communities.

• Do you know someone who could teach students how to play Mahjong or Go?
• Have a connection for traditional Chinese arts and crafts workshops in paper cutting, calligraphy, or lantern crafting?
• Want to sponsor a tea ceremony?

We would love to hear from you! Please send me an email anytime if you have an idea for us.

澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 will be part of this neighborhood for the next fifty years and beyond. Let's engage with our "forever neighbors" and bring the rich culture of China and the Chinatown community to 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 this year!

澳门威尼斯人博彩
Head of School
September 2025

Female Empowerment, Equity, and Allyship

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) remains a part of the mission and heart center of 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 school.

A quick fact about 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网: In our 49-year history, we've had only four Heads of School. Three out of those four have been women! That's all too rare at independent schools.

I bring this up because it's a fact related to last year's schoolwide DEIB initiative which focused on female empowerment and gender equity. (Note: You can read more about last year's initiative in the sections below.) That initiative allowed us to partner with the Girls Leadership Institute, re-launch Girls on the Run, and establish Girls Lunches across divisions, as well as a girl's peer mentorship program.

As we held space for our girls and female-identifying students, we noticed a need for programming for boys and male-identifying students. This year, we have decided to extend our work to include training, activities, and opportunities for our boys to engage positively in the conversation about female empowerment and gender equity. As the year progresses, I will be providing updates on specifically how we are performing this work and the impact it is having; be sure to check back to this page throughout the school year.

Seeing the value of being an ally to girls means making sure that everyone is not only invited to the table but is also heard, acknowledged, and recognized for their contributions.

澳门威尼斯人博彩
Head of School
September 2024

November 2024

At 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网, we're committed to creating a space where every student can thrive, no matter their gender or background. Female and female-identifying students, especially those of color, often face unique challenges, so in 2023 we launched an initiative to bridge these gaps. By teaming up with local and national organizations, we're bringing specialized programming, training, and resources directly to our school, ensuring that these students get the support they need to reach their full potential.

Why This Initiative Matters

Girls and female-identifying students with learning differences are often less represented in academic programs. Many tend to "mask" their challenges, a behavior where students try to blend in or hide their struggles, often to avoid stigma or self-doubt. This can delay or even prevent proper support and lead to feelings of isolation. For students of color, these challenges are even more layered. Our goal is to build a culture where students feel comfortable being themselves and receive the encouragement and understanding they deserve.

2024–2025 Expansion

As we held space for our girls and female-identifying students, we noticed a need for programming for boys and male-identifying students. This year, we have decided to extend our work to include training, activities, and opportunities for our boys to engage positively in the conversation about female empowerment and gender equity. Seeing the value of being an ally to girls means making sure that everyone is not only invited to the table but is also heard, acknowledged, and recognized for their contributions.

Our Diversity Council has been working to integrate programming for both faculty and students that addresses this topic of allyship, hosting Boys Groups for students and sharing professional development tools and insights from resources such as Janet Allison's and Jennifer Fink's ON BOYS podcasts, whose goal is "to provide parents, teachers, care providers, and boy-advocates with the information and strategies to grow boys into happy healthy men." Acknowledging that there is a significant toxic online culture available to students of all ages—and particularly toxic for impressionable boys— 澳门威尼斯人博彩 SEL education partner, The Social Institute, recently presented "How to Proactively Empower your Child(ren) to Navigate Social Media." This insightful Zoom session explored ways to flip the script and encourage students to navigate social media and technology in positive ways.

Continuing DEIB work on this initiative to empower our girls and build allyship is a true community effort that involves our students, faculty, and families as well. We thank you for your support in this work, and look forward to sharing more opportunities for all constituents to engage in this endeavor.

Other Fall DEIB News

Today (November 14, 2024), students from all divisions participated in the annual Ruby Bridges Walk to School. Ruby Bridges famously "stepped into the history books in 1960 when she integrated William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans becoming a national icon for the civil rights movement." This is the fourth year that 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 has participated in this event by meeting at a location nearby, and walking to school together in commemoration of Ruby Bridges' historic walk to school. Many homerooms followed the day's walk with a lesson on the significance of Ruby Bridges and the civil rights movement.

In high school, some of the most authentic examples of DEIB curriculum flow from celebrations embedded in our Spanish curriculum; activities that have become 在线娱乐 traditions.

In late October, all of the Spanish classes prepared ofrendas for Día de Los Muertos. As she does each year, Srta. Garcia prepared chocolate caliente mexicano, and Sr. Barragan brought in pan de muerto. Srta. brought in a molinillo (wooden whisk) and showed students how the drink is traditionally prepared and talked about the cultural significance of being able to create the froth. She spoke to the classes about why canela is used rather than common cinnamon.

In December, the Spanish classes will all have a different role in preparing for the Holiday Fiesta. Spanish 1 classes will make piñatas, Spanish 2 will make tamales, and the Spanish 3 classes will make a traditional ponche. All students are also invited to bring in a dish from their own holiday traditions to share in our potluck. Every year we look forward to not only what the Spanish classes make but also what each student contributes from their own culture. In this way, not only are authentic traditions honored, but they have become 澳门威尼斯人博彩 traditions.

This year, 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 looks to extend these traditions by including a potential new tradition: We have invited our alumni to return for the Holiday Fiesta. Invitations were extended to alumni contacts to come back for this year's event on December 19 and, yes, bring a dish to share in the potluck. Inclusivity is vital to our core value of celebrating uniqueness, and by inviting our extended familia to participate in this annual tradition, we hope to honor our diversity and strengthen the bonds within our community.

March 2025

At the moment, it seems like every time I open my computer, there is a new headline announcing sweeping changes to federal government policies. And of late, a number of these policies are targeting issues that directly impact the 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 community.

While 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 school has long been a truly independent school, non-reliant upon government funding, sea changes at the national level have a habit of trickling down (or up, depending on your perspective!) to private entities, in spirit if not in practice. The news cycle seems to be in hyperdrive, and it can occasionally feel overwhelming to consider the effect these changes could, can, and will have, so I'd like to take this opportunity to explain where 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 stands on these issues..

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB)

A recent Associated Press article featured Amira Barger, executive vice president of communications and head of DEI advisory at Edelman, a global communications/public relations firm. The story noted that efforts to diversify workplaces and promote equality are under attack, but many organizations remain committed to seeing the work continue.

• "We've been here for years," said Barger. "I'm still encouraged, even in the midst of all this backlash. [...]
  "When DEI initiatives are attacked, companies need to be prepared to address the criticism by being really clear about demonstrating positive impacts of this kind of work. That means defending the work with facts. From increased innovation to a greater sense of belonging among employees, there are very real outcomes that companies can use to show measurable progress because of the existence of these programs. And it's also important to invite input and take it seriously.
  "What we need in this moment are leaders who have the nerve to be brave and to stand up for this work. There's a lot of fear-mongering and uncertainty right now — and I think that can drive people to do things outside of what they might believe is true or right — so we need leaders to show that nerve in really big and powerful ways. My hope is that we'll see some of that over this next year, even in the midst of a new administration that is clearly very anti-DEI."

What follows is by no means big and powerful, but what's going on in the country right now bears restating 澳门威尼斯人博彩 commitment to our school's Diversity Statement and DEIB initiatives.

Each school year, our faculty and staff Diversity Council identifies annual initiatives that allow us to focus on and track progress of our DEIB efforts. Alongside these initiatives is discussion and work on relevant, timely issues that impact our community. Over the past five years, several important initiatives have resulted from the work of the Diversity Council (and were supported by our Board's DEIB Committee), including an anti-bias hiring practices audit, employee compensation study, professional development workshops, and activities meant to support the unique needs of male and female-identifying students alike. I want to reassure our 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 community that we remain committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. Providing students with safe spaces to explore and celebrate their individuality and identities is a long-standing practice at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网–one that began at our inception back in 1975 (before DEIB was coined) and continues today.

Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission

In other news, and very closely tied to our mission and values here at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网, is the MAHA Commission and their recent communications about childhood mental health. New Director of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has shared some frankly outrageous and pseudoscientific views on vaccines, fluoride, raw milk; now ADHD and other childhood psychiatric medications are seemingly up for grabs as "scientists" "debate" and express "their beliefs" and "feelings" about their use.

While folks on X compare the ADHD diagnosis rates in Sweden vs. the United States as if this is hard proof that we're drugging our children and filling them full of chemicals, and bloggers continue to suggest that ADHD can be cured with fresh air and grass; I'll keep making an offer the I've made on LinkedIn (my only social media): Come to 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网, teach a 6th grade class, and tell me ADHD isn't real. When you see the mountains students must move to maintain their attention, to still their buzzing bodies and brains, to start and organize a project, to curb that impulse to poke another student or shout out a sharp retort when their feeling irritable – tell me nature will cure them (or raw milk or flouride-free water). Tell me that medications don't work for many.

Fortunately, there's a better call to action than teaching a 6th grade class at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 (albeit less fun!). ADDitude Magazine is encouraging advocates to submit testimony to MAHA Commission or to contact your local representative. Please check out this resource and consider making your voice heard.

The DepT. of Education & Neurodiverse Students

The Wall Street Journal reports that President Trump is working on an executive order to shut down all functions of the Department of Education or consolidate these positions into other departments. From my position as a leader in a private school, it's an odd thing to worry about a public department being privatized, but it would be naïve to say that we are immune to sweeping changes at the federal level. Approximately 800,000 students in California receive IEP services, making up about one-tenth of the eight million students across the entire U.S. That's a vast number of vulnerable students! While FAPE, ADA and IDEA cannot be overridden by a president unilaterally, a skeletal or non-existent Department of Education simply will not be able to provide robust special education services—testing, intervention, technology, and training.

What does this mean for 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网? While we are  an excellent school serving students with dyslexia and ADHD, our model does not work for everyone, nor is it intended to provide a "free and appropriate education for all students." I do believe that families benefit from a diversity of options for education; public, private, secular, charter, and magnet schools all meet the unique needs of special populations across a diverse country. Public education is essential education. (I won't get into School Choice initiatives in this blog post.)

Staying true to our values

By the time I write another update on DEIB at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网, I am hopeful that some of this will have been settled by rationality and research-backed science. I am not losing faith that Americans can use their brains, their voices, and their values to drive both grassroots and federal-level change. In the meantime, here at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 we will continue to monitor new executive orders and laws and do everything within our power to support our community. When the federal becomes personal, we will continue to turn to our mission and core values for solutions.

DEIB, by its very definition, impacts all of us here at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网, and is fundamental to our core value of learning from everyone's uniqueness. Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. Belonging. These are values that I'm proud 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 holds dear, and ones that I'm proud to defend when they come under attack.

澳门威尼斯人博彩
Head of School

As our school year comes to a close, we look back on the ways our students and faculty focused on this year's schoolwide DEIB initiative: Female Empowerment, Equity, and Allyship. Across all divisions, Social Emotional Learning groups emerged as a platform to meaningfully engage with issues that relate to these topics. Through dialogue comes understanding and action, and our hope is that these conversations and actions not only continue here within our halls, but at home and beyond our campus as well.

Lower School and Middle School

Throughout the year, the Lower School and Middle School divisions held small-group sessions during the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) period to discuss topics related to our schoolwide DEIB initiative. Teachers, counselors, and administrators met with female- and male-identifying groups separately and together to facilitate activities and conversations that engaged students in meaningful ways. Some examples include:

• Learning about Restorative Circles, a practice that fosters open dialogue, repairs harm, and strengthens relationships. During these circles, students were encouraged to share thoughts on questions like "What superpower would you choose?" and "How can we improve our learning environment?" Such dialogue promotes inclusivity and understanding in our classroom communities.

• Deep-dive conversations on judging others and the difference between tattling (or snitching) and reporting. For the first topic, students talked about how judging others—whether it's their choices, their abilities, or even how they look—can really hurt feelings and create walls between people. Students shared insights about why it's better to be curious and kind instead of jumping to conclusions. The second topic focused on understanding when it's okay to speak up. Groups discussed the difference between tattling, which is about getting someone in trouble, and reporting, which is about keeping everyone safe and supported. Students role-played figuring out how to handle tricky situations responsibly, showing both bravery and vulnerability when opening up about moments when they felt judged.
• Through a series of short videos and reflective discussions, students explored the concept that identity includes both visible and invisible aspects—what we show to the world and what we hold inside. Facilitators emphasized the importance of recognizing and honoring both in ourselves and others. The conversations were thoughtful and offered students a space to connect more deeply with their peers and build empathy.

While the above descriptions of these activities don't explicitly focus on girls and boys as allies, this work is grounded in inclusivity, acceptance, and communication skills, and that's the work the students did in these groups.

—Sarah Ridenour

High School

This year, the High School's efforts to support the schoolwide DEIB initiative was mainly addressed in the creation of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) groups. These student groups started dialogues to promote prosocial behaviors and address the stereotypical actions and norms issues that can harm students. These have an outsized effect on girls because they commonly involve mistreatment of girls in words or deeds. Frequently, the harm—to girls, by both boys and girls—is either thoughtless, underestimated, or comes from a place of one's own self-consciousness. This year was a pilot program for these groups and based on their success, the program will be continued and expanded next year.

Additionally, in March, a delegation of our students attended the inaugural Bay Area Student Leadership Conference at the San Francisco Waldorf School. The conference brought together nearly 100 young people and adults from ten high schools across the Bay Area and beyond. Entitled Not All Speed is Movement: Redefining 博彩社区 Through Action, the event's focus was on building connections across schools and learning to facilitate community conversations on inclusion and belonging. Keynote speaker, Dr. Eghosa Obaizamomwan-Hamilton, spoke about her own school experiences as a young Nigerian-American looking for a sense of belonging, and offered a picture of the many ways that young people have advocated for—and made—change in their communities.

The conference was energizing for our students, reaffirming the work we are doing here by showcasing how change begins at a grass-roots level and that like-minded individuals can collaborate to create hope and connection. As a result, students returned with a desire to restart both the Diversity Council and the Gender Sexuality Alliance (GSA) next school year. Though we will focus on a new DEIB initiative next year, the work we have been doing the last two years to address female empowerment, gender equity, and allyship will continue, as these important strands are deeply ingrained in our mission, values, and actions.

—Craig Brewer

Gender Equity and Female Empowerment

We are pleased to announce a new Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging initiative for the 2023-2024 academic year. The very Mission of 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网—to build on the foundation of individual strengths to discover and nurture each student's version of greatness—embodies our desire for an inclusive and diverse school. And while there are myriad DEI initiatives that schools may choose to take on, it was important to us that we identify one that was highly personal to 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网, is data-driven, and is measurable for optimal progress-monitoring.

With the support of the Board DEIB Committee, the Faculty & Staff Diversity Council closely examined our demographic data looking for trends. We uncovered many areas that will surely inform our future initiatives, but one stood out as stark and pervasive at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网: the imbalance between females and males.

At present, females (and female-identifying students) represent about 35% of the school population at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网. This makes sense considering some basic facts about this population: In the US, boys are three-times more likely than girls to be diagnosed with ADHD; boys are four-times more likely to be diagnosed with dyslexia. (There are a lot of reasons for this disproportionate number of diagnoses, which we will address in future articles and posts. It is a fascinating body of research!)

So what does this look like in the classroom, in the hallways, on the courts and in the arts? In the most basic sense, it means that we are obliged to provide informed, thoughtful support of girls as a gender minority at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网. It also means that we need to be very intentional about gender equity for all gender expressions at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网; resources, opportunities, rewards and social-value are often unevenly distributed in the world, even with the best of intentions.

Thus, Gender Equity and Female Empowerment is the DEIB initiative that we have chosen to focus on this year. This initiative helps us keep this top-of-mind and of the highest priority. And both boys and girls will benefit from this work because when minority populations are properly supported, everyone learns, grows and succeeds.

All of this may seem like a tall order, so we have a few goals to keep this work grounded.

1. Partner with local and national experts in the field whose Mission aligns with our goal for gender equity and female empowerment at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网

2. Through these partnerships, provide professional development and resources to educate and inspire faculty, staff, and families

3. Through these partnerships, provide classroom and experiential learning opportunities to students

4. Provide transparency in our process to all constituencies at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网; we'll celebrate our progress and we invite you to contribute in this important work

As the year unfolds, we will update our whole community on new opportunities, activities, and events that support this initiative. We appreciate and value all students and their gender expressions at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网, and we look forward to learning more, together, as we examine ways to increase gender equity in all aspects of 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网.

Dear 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 community,

As I noted at Back to School Night in September, there are myriad DEIB initiatives that schools may choose to take on, and it was important to us that we identify one that met the following criteria:

• Highly personal to 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网
• Data-driven
• Measurable for optimal progress-monitoring

We selected Gender Equity and Female Empowerment as our DEIB initiative to focus on. Below is an update on some of the ways we have supported this initiative throughout the school year thusfar:

Faculty and staff kicked off the initiative with a summer reading assignment focused on gender equity in the classroom, What's Wrong With Normal: A Teacher's Handbook. Faculty and staff are involved in book discussion groups during our Friday Professional Development days.

Girls groups launched in September, with Louann and Rebecca leading 11th- and 8th-grade girls through activities and discussions focused on empathy, self-advocacy, and equity in the classroom and beyond. Groups meet twice a month; in the coming months, each group will participate in field trips meant to promote collaboration and leadership.

澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 also launched the Girls on the Run (GotR) program. GotR coaches work with our middle and high school girls on a structured, curricular program called Heart & Sole. This program is designed to meet the unique needs of 6th–8th grade girls of all abilities, and focuses on the whole person—body, brain, heart, spirit, and social connection. Heart & Sole offers an inclusive place of belonging, where participants feel supported and inspired to explore their emotions, cultivate empathy and strengthen their physical and emotional health. At the end of the season, all team members complete a 5K.

Several members of our Athletic's Department attended a webinar with Girls Leadership, "Belonging in Basketball." This webinar explored how to cultivate a sense of belonging for every girl on our teams, so that players can practice effective and sustainable teamwork. With the girls volleyball season recently coming to a close, we were so impressed and inspired by the way our girls supported each other through a challenging and highly-competitive first season in the CIF league. 

This work with Oakland-based Girls Leadership will continue, as they are coming onto campus in February to work with faculty and staff on "Bravespace Groundwork." At 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网, we feel that it is essential to build a community where girls feel seen, accepted, and loved by peers and adults—in person and online.

This is important and valuable work we are doing with 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 girls and female-identifying students. I'll be sharing quarterly DEIB updates again in the winter and fall, but be sure to follow our social media feeds and stay tuned in The Splash for highlights of our DEIB work throughout the school year.

澳门威尼斯人博彩
Head of School
November 2023

On Friday, February 2, 2024, the entire 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 faculty and staff participated in in a long-anticipated professional development workshop with Oakland-based non-profit, Girls Leadership. Focusing on the creation of "Bravespace Groundwork" at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网, CPO Ting-Sheng Vivian Liao and California Program Manager Jenelle Nila led our team through several exercises and activities that we could immediately take into our classroom spaces. The day began with a meaningful conversation about what it means to "belong" at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 and what it may mean to feel "othered." Participants identified various forms of belonging at 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网, ranging from "I display Pride flags and LGBTQ+ inspiration walls" to "celebrating wins," "calling out best behavior," and "correct gendering." A common theme was the idea of providing accommodations and tools for learning—students seeing each other, and their teachers, using accommodations creates an inclusive and level playing field.

Unsurprisingly, being vulnerable to name situations in which students may feel "othered" was a more challenging task. That said, these small revelations produced big points of discussion: "Not always meeting a student's learning style," "the impact of gender, appearance, weight, and intelligence in any given room," "boys outnumbering girls in my classrooms," "teachers calling out bad behavior [or this landing on boys]." So many students come to 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 already feeling othered; we know that it can weigh heavily on a student's mind whether they are "good enough and smart enough" to be in this class, this group, this school. Our task is to ensure them—in every way possible—that they belong and that they are seen, especially when they might be vulnerable to exclusion.

Another particularly compelling activity centered around the concept of "comfort zones." First, we established areas of the room where we might go when given a scenario that challenged our definition of "comfortable." There was a Relax Zone ("confidence and ease"), a Risk Zone ("may feel uncomfortable, but we can learn and grow") and the Reckless Zone ("a zone too far outside of our control that we may feel emotionally or physically unsafe"). Next, we were given prompts to make us think about where our comfort zones are and how they shift as we move from lighter to heavier topics: "How comfortable are you with engaging in playful activities with students?", "How comfortable are you with admitting to students that you are wrong?", "How do you feel about bringing new ideas to your boss?", 'How do you feel about working with a student who doesn't like you?".

This was such a great exercise because the objectives, vocabulary, and activity itself is so immediately applicable in our classrooms. We identified a time during Monday Meeting when this could be reviewed, and faculty discussed ways in which they could gauge everything from comfortability with an upcoming math test to students' emotional response to being called on during class without raising their hands. This is really the intersection of practical classroom instruction and social-emotional learning. It's what teachers do everyday, and taking time and care to reinforce these concepts and practices is so important.

澳门威尼斯人博彩
Head of School
February 2024

While we approach the close of another school year, I find myself thinking about beginnings instead. As a classroom teacher, I was often challenged by my own impatience at the start of the year. There was always so much paperwork to complete, files to read through, and HR, CPR, NATO and LOL trainings to attend. I just wanted to fast-forward it all and jump back into the classroom in the middle of Dante's Inferno. Alas, the beginning truly begins with just small steps–博彩社区 Agreements, trust-building, identifying strengths, learning how to collaborate as a class of students and a teacher whose only common thread is that, eventually, we'd all read Inferno together.

DEIB work is a lot like this. It's a build-up of small steps–lessons, discussions, research, and action, too. And somehow, this never feels like enough when each day brings the potential for a new challenging world event, whether that's your world, my world, or all of ours.

As you know, this years' DEIB initiative was dedicated to female and female-identifying youth empowerment. Our work on this initiative ranged from teacher training, to launching new student affinity spaces, and welcoming inspiring guest speakers. We discovered that lifting up our girls made all of us better—we listened more closely, we asked questions, we held our boys and gender expansive youth, we applied some of our new experience and knowledge to start to understand how to better support all underrepresented groups; we also found patience in this practice. This is why 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 has committed to continuing our work as a faculty and staff Diversity Council in the coming years. As we expand this initiative to reach more groups and to tackle related challenges, we invite families to continue these conversations at home now and throughout the summer.

To find out in more detail about what the 澳门威尼斯人博彩官网 Faculty/Staff Diversity Council has been up to, click the panel below. And if you're looking for ways to get your girl involved over the summer, here are three outstanding organizations that serve girls and gender expansive youth, and especially girls of color:

• Cinnamongirl
• Girls Who Code
• Girls Leadership Teen Advisory Board

Happy summer to all of you, as you learn in a different way through travel, reading, summer camping, and spending time with family and friends.

澳门威尼斯人博彩
Head of School
May 2024

Below are highlights from this school year's Faculty & Staff Diversity Council:

• Professional Development: What's Wrong with Normal: Champion Gender Equity in Your Classroom; Dr. Sharmila Roy: Understanding and Teaching Atypical Girls; Girls Leadership: Creating Brave Spaces; Understanding Title IX workshop

• Student Groups: Lower and Middle School Diversity Council, High School Student Diversity Council, Lower and Middle School Gender Sexuality Alliance, High School Gender Sexuality Alliance

• Staff Led Student Initiatives: Girls on the Run; HS Girls Group; LS/MS Girls Group; 8th Grade Boys Groups

• Celebrations: El Dia de Los Muertos, Indigenous People's Day at Yerba Buena Center, Ruby Bridges Walk to School, MLK Day Marade, LS/MS Black History Quilt, Women's March, SF Pride Parade

• Curriculum Highlights: LS/MS and HS "Diverse Perspectives" book selections. Examples include: Immigrant farm life (The Circuit); the justice system (From the Desk of Zoe Washington; Just Mercy excerpts); Danish WWII bravery (Number the Stars), and themes of identity (Look Both Ways), homelessness (Crenshaw), and displacement (parts of Persepolis: Book 1, and Darius the Great is Not Okay); ADA compliant wheelchair ramp design project; Launch of Ethnic Studies HS elective, HS trip to Japantown, HS mochi-making workshop; Panama cultural & language immersion trip (HS)

• Speakers: Michael Hersek, Public Defender for death row inmates; Dr. Ibram X. Kendi on Critical Race Theory; Mr. Dale Minamis: Korematsu vs The United States and its successful overturning

• Artist Visit: Con Brio concert on campus