diversity at RDS

Central to the Redwood Day School mission is the goal to promote and better understand diversity. This is accomplished at the classroom level, in faculty and staff meetings, in professional development workshops, in our admission and hiring practices, and through the Parents’ Association. This is a constantly evolving process.

Facts:

• Students of color nearly 40% of our enrollment in 2009-2010.
• Currently, 38% of faculty and staff identify as people of color.
• RDS maintains membership with Bay Area POCIS (People of Color in Independent Schools) and the National SEED Project (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity).
• Members of our faculty and staff regularly participate in the NAIS/POCC (People of Color Conference) and the NAIS Summer Diversity Institute.
• Teacher in-services regularly include diversity awareness training.
• A draft of our Diversity Strategic Plan is available for community review and input.

Our one-sentence mission statement captures the importance of this topic to the RDS community in three words, “intimate, diverse community.” We refer to these three words on a regular basis in interactions with students in and out of the classroom, always pushing and inviting them to look at different perspectives. We want our community members to develop the habit of trying on others’ worldview, whether it is in a discussion about US history or during a playground interaction with a peer – the ability to see the other person’s perspective is both an emotional act of empathy and an intellectual exercise of momentarily letting go of your own perspective. The result of these interactions is a respect for and an appreciation of difference of all kinds.

Throughout all divisions, respect for diversity and the appreciation of other viewpoints is practiced in a variety of ways and on a regular basis. In the lower school, teachers regularly feature “A Life Like Mine,” which includes discussions of different family histories and family composition, and celebrations of a diverse range of cultural holidays. The day-to-day learning experience in the classroom always includes a multicultural perspective. Our middle school humanities program was developed, and is taught, with an eye to exposure to a variety of world cultures, religions, and perspectives. Students engage in active conversations to better understand culture and its relative context in their own lives, discovering how cultural awareness and appreciation of differences play a role in government policies and treatment of others and exploring the nuanced relationship between the powerful and the powerless throughout history.

As adults, we do our best to provide appropriate role models who represent ethnic diversity, a range of backgrounds, and a balance of gender. This diversity is accomplished through our recruitment and hiring process as well as ongoing faculty and staff support. Beyond this we provide for balance of diverse role models through the guest speakers and featured presenters  at weekly all-school assemblies. We are also fortunate to have an active parent committee that works to provide and enhance diverse perspectives and understanding within the RDS community.

Diversity is a central part of our admissions process as we seek to enroll a student body that represents our larger community. The rich diversity of the RDS student body allows for sharing of personal knowledge and experiences as students interact with those who look different from them, practice another religion/philosophy, live in a different family group, hold a different economic status, or have a different ethnicity. The rich tapestry of people that make up our community reinforces the diversity of the Oakland and the East Bay.