March 19, 2021

 

 

Dear UHS Students, Families, Alumni, Trustees, and Friends,

 

I am writing to update you on University High School’s continued efforts to advance our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) work. We have worked to prioritize curriculum evolution, professional development, student support and agency, and structural changes in service to our Equity and Community Statement. We are maintaining our “fierce focus” on the community’s well-being -- specifically that of our faculty, staff, students, and families of color, due to additional racial stressors of the pandemic and the continued assault on dignity and safety in these communities.

 

With the guidance of our Director of Equity and Community Tilda Kapuya and in collaboration with our Deans, we have made significant strides in growing and supporting our diverse community. Our ongoing work includes incorporating DEIB goals in our professional growth work, building our Human Development curricula in cultural competency and equity literacy, and providing opportunities for our community to connect, celebrate, and challenge ourselves. Since this summer, there has been an increased sense of urgency from all corners of our school community. In response, we have engaged in several important projects and activities that we want to share with you today:

 

• In February, we launched the UHS Equity and Community Stewardship and Oversight Committee with goals this year to create a living map of our work – past, present and future; evaluate our progress toward our 2018 belief statement; and publicize that progress in an annual report.
  
  
• Our student affinity and activism groups have had more visibility this year with the broader community by participating in panel discussions, engaging in cross-cultural collaborations, and creating a greater connection with school leadership. 
  
  
• We are paying particular attention to supporting AAPI students, families (through our Alliance for Community and Equity parent organization), faculty and staff during this recent surge in anti-Asian violence. Read our posted message in support of our AAPI community here.
  
  
• The English department started the school year with a series of meetings to reflect on the issues highlighted in the BSU Juneteenth letter. These meetings focused on trauma-informed and antiracist teaching practices. Teachers have begun implementing changes to their course content and teaching practices. Some of the changes have been immediate, while others are longer-term efforts that require time for continued learning, growing, and collaborating.
  
  
• Also in response to the BSU letter, the history department has acknowledged their over- emphasis on documenting violence against minoritized communities hoping that doing so would lead to an appreciation of the need for positive actions to make changes in American society. They are in the midst of several curricular and pedagogical changes to strike this balance better. 
  
  
• Our Internal Research Team (supported by a grant from the EE Ford Foundation) has developed a Survey on Community and Interconnection and an Inclusion Dashboard from which we are using data to understand the student experience and inform ongoing programming decisions.
  
  
• In 2019, we established a standing Board Committee on Equity and Community (Chaired by trustee Julayne Virgil ’94). Their work this year has been to re-envision the process for identifying and nominating board members, conducting a longitudinal survey on the racial and ethnic profile of our trustees, and engaging in meaningful professional development to advance the Board’s partnership in our DEIB work. Currently, 45% of the UHS Board self-identifies as BIPOC (students 52%, faculty/staff 45%).
  
  
• Our annual MLK Day Symposium kicked off on January 20th with Dr. Bettina Love’s keynote entitled “Living A Hip Hop & Abolitionist Life: Resistance, Creativity, Hip Hop Civics Ed, Intersectionality, & Black Joy,” and continued with additional sessions including “Chinatown Rising; Learning in Public -- How School Choice Shapes Democracy.” Learn more about our 2020/2021 MLK Day Symposium here.
  
  
• This year’s faculty/staff professional development (ongoing and in-service work) has included individual DEIB goal setting and course feedback surveys with a focus on incorporating culturally responsive practices.
  
  
• We continue to enhance our translation and interpretation services within our UHS and Summerbridge communications for current and prospective families by expanding our Spanish and Chinese language instructors’ roles to include Language Access Services.
  
  
• Our Council for Honor and Integrity (CHI), a student and faculty group, worked over the summer to incorporate restorative justice practices (a theory of justice that focuses on mediation and agreement rather than punishment, offenders taking responsibility for harm and making restitution with victims) into our evolving disciplinary system.

I personally observed Black History Month by setting aside the operational worries of running a school during a pandemic to read Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. In her opening chapter, Wilkerson uses a virus (timely!) as an analogy for racism or “casteism.”  She writes, “…these contagions could not be destroyed, not yet anyway, only managed and anticipated, as with any virus, and that foresight and vigilance, the wisdom of never taking them for granted, never underestimating their persistence, was perhaps the most effective antidote for now.”

 

University High School does not exist outside of the structures of racism that permeate our country and the relentless harm inflicted on communities of color. However, UHS has both the opportunity and the conviction to work together to create a learning community that aligns with our core values and community agreements. Preparing our students to advance the cause of racial justice and to challenge existing structures that perpetuate inequity is critical. Never underestimating racism’s persistence and its impact on our community every day, we will continue to do our work with foresight and vigilance. 

 

Most sincerely,