Belonging is a basic human need, and, in the context of a school like Grace, an enduring sense of belonging can become a powerful driver of growth and learning. Students who feel a sense of belonging understand themselves to be known and loved; the community matters to them, and they matter to the community.
Belonging is a basic human need, and, in the context of a school like Grace, an enduring sense of belonging can become a powerful driver of growth and learning. Students who feel a sense of belonging understand themselves to be known and loved; the community matters to them, and they matter to the community.
That may all sound fairly abstract, but our concern for belonging has given practical shape to our program, has fueled curriculum advances, and has been a focus of the work the trustees and the administration are doing to clarify and advance our antiracist aspirations and our work to promote diversity, equity and inclusion.
Walk onto the Early Childhood play roof, and you’ll see a sign that says “Stand here if you want someone to play with you.” Right from the start, we believe an important part of a Grace education is learning to look out for one another: to be inclusive of others, to be an “upstander,” to be a kind and generous friend. In older grades, students regularly challenge the school itself to do better to live out its values, to ensure that experiences of belonging are a reality and not just an aspiration, and to address the influence of systemic racism, prejudice, and other barriers to belonging that exist in society and within intentionally diverse communities like Grace. Of course, the work of belonging is not something left to the students. Our teachers strive to build classroom cultures where every child can feel as though they are an important part of the community. But the work of belonging is something we all can do. And our students take it seriously.
Our teachers do, too. It’s why they continually work to ask questions about the ways in which our curriculum can advance a sense of belonging: by ensuring that the books on our shelves and in our curriculum reflect the diversity of our families; by remaining sensitive to the challenges and vital importance of teaching an accurate understanding of history, including the role of race and racism in shaping our society; by providing academic challenge and support for all who need it (and by believing that all students deserve both); by designing projects and assessments that give students choices and the chance to answer questions that feel meaningful and relevant; and so much more.
Over the last year, the administration and the Board of Trustees took steps to explore and consider how to improve the school’s work in promoting belonging by:
Commissioning an independent assessment from an outside consultant, Pollyanna Inc, who was tasked with collecting input from a broad range of community voices evaluating the school’s work to build a healthy and racially diverse community.
Creating a Task Force to study potential blind spots of that work, including the ways in which the school can do a better job cultivating belonging by affirming the value of viewpoint diversity and the importance of engaging a range of thoughtful perspectives on challenging questions.
The trustees and administration met over the summer for a two-day retreat where they reviewed the reports from Pollyanna and the Task Force and got to work identifying strategic priorities for the year ahead. The result of that work will be shared with the community this fall.
