ANTI-RACISM GUIDING PRINCIPLES

A set of understandings for DEI work in anti-racism work at The Rivers School

• Providing adequate support for Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) and other marginalized students must be the lens through which all DEI programming is designed.
• The biggest and best support is growing our critical mass of BIPOC
• BIPOC alum are also an essential buffer
• Affinity Spaces and BRIDGE
• Physical space should be reflective of diversity
• When designing policy, process, and curriculum, ask yourself, how will the students/faculty/staff/families/alumni on the margins of our community be impacted by your design?  Does it land on them differently?  Cultivate an equity lens in design.
• Centering anti-racism work on the dominant culture and what aspects of that culture are exclusive/exclusionary is key to making us a more inclusive community. To increase and support BIPOC students and faculty is not enough. We must address the systemic racism that exists within our institution.
• The Institutional approach to anti-racism work is an issue of humanity and in no way seeks to take a political stance on said issues.
• Families must be engaged in a partnership with us to do this work.
• Racial Identity Development models and best practices must guide the design and implementation of DEI/Anti-Racism programming and training.
• We must grow capacity in our faculty/staff body to do our best DEI/anti-racism work--a comprehensive training model.
• There is Board and Senior Administrative support for this work.  It is an essential component to moving us forward. 
• Anti-racism work must be embedded in curriculum at every level and must be scaled in scope and sequence so that each student can gain an understanding at their developmental level.
• There must be a centralized approach to DEI/Anti-racism work.  Everyone rows together in the same boat to minimize resistance.  This might mean we are more deliberate.  We must navigate the tension between seizing the momentum with a methodical but comprehensive approach. Moving too quickly or skipping steps in the trajectory could do more harm than good.  No one is able to opt in to this work. As students move through the institution, they need to encounter anti-racist curricula in each discipline and at each level regardless of the teacher.
• Student voice must be central to this work.
• https://padlet.com/aarchibald8/3x4i487341xfwtws
• The DEI Office is the central resource for all things DEI.  We partner with other constituents to ensure an equity lens is applied to all policies, processes, programs, curriculum and pedagogy