Diversity & Inclusion

Staff, students and families all participate in the work of making VCS an inclusive and actively anti-racist school community. All are offered opportunities to learn about different cultures, examine topics from new perspectives and share their own experiences, and all are encouraged to consider their own role in creating change.

In classrooms at every age level, we employ a culturally responsive teaching model in which teachers consistently ask themselves what identities, values and beliefs they are bringing into the classroom each day and how those aspects of their identity influence both what they center and prioritize in their teaching and how they relate to the students in their classroom.

Teachers at VCS get to know each individual child’s developing identities and their strengths, areas for improvement and intrinsic motivators. They welcome and affirm all potential identities included in human diversity, creating inclusive classroom environments that increase the level of student engagement.

The VCS community is continually inspired and guided by our Diversity Statement, which informs every area of school life.

VCS DIVERSITY STATEMENT

Village Community School is strengthened and enriched by the diversity of our students, families, and staff. We are committed to cultivating intellectual, social, and emotional growth in an inclusive environment where diverse experiences and perspectives are essential to the rigorous education we provide.

We believe diversity is crucial to academic vitality. All students learn better in classrooms with racial as well as other forms of diversity. Our social studies-centered curriculum further advances this aim, immersing children in multiple perspectives different from their own—historically, culturally, economically—promoting empathy and respect.

Inside and outside the classroom, we encourage genuine conversation about complex issues. We provide the supportive environment and tools needed to identify limiting beliefs, break through uncomfortable barriers, and affirm the identities of all members of our community.

We are an anti-bias community committed to building a more equitable society through our actions. We develop leaders. Our students have the character and the courage to confront injustice and to advocate for themselves and others. They recognize their responsibility in shaping the world in which they live.

“By working together to create a truly antiracist and inclusive environment for all our students, staff and parents, we ensure the VCS Diversity Statement remains a living document, constantly reflected in our collective actions as we continue the journey from brave conversations to systemic institutional change.”

Curricular Emphasis

Identity Development: Understanding that children are not born with bias, our goal at VCS is to begin to undo any biased socialization that may prevent the affirmation of the identity of any member of our school community. We consistently find ways to implement culturally responsive teaching practices in every classroom, encouraging the celebration and appreciation of differences and all types of human diversity. Teachers offer opportunities for students to express their various changing identities, encouraging self-understanding and a feeling of belonging.
Diversity: Teachers provide books, videos and other resources that provide viewpoints from multiple perspectives, ensuring we continue to analyze where we are centering one culture over others and offer students opportunities to interact with characters and protagonists that mirror different aspects of their own identities – as well as offer a window into the lives of people from different social identity groups.
Justice: Students begin to critically analyze how there are systems in place in society that favor some groups over others. Teachers use a variety of methods to promote an understanding of the unfair systems that make equity difficult for underrepresented and underserved groups.
Action: By the time students reach 6th Grade, they learn different skills and strategies to act in areas they would like to see change.

*Identity, Diversity, Justice and Action are the four anchors of the social justice standards created by Learning for Justice.

Professional Development

VCS staff members meet with the Director of Diversity and Inclusion to develop individualized diversity and inclusion goals that explore their progression in their own racial identity and their integration of culturally responsive and antiracist social-emotional learning practices into their roles. Interested staff may participate in a Diversity & Inclusion Staff Book Club, pursue Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Antiracism Continuing Education programs and/or attend annual national conferences. All staff participate in ongoing in-house Diversity & Inclusion professional development.

Led by fellow staff trained as facilitators, examples of in-house professional development programs include:

Antiracism Workshops (2020-2021)
- The Impact of Racial Trauma on Youth
- Our Role in Social Change
- Racialized Socialization
- Systems of Oppression
Brave Conversations Three-Part Series (2019-2020)
- The Science of Bias
- Deconstructing Stereotypes
- Moving to Allyship
Mini-Workshops (2019-2020)
- The Importance of Belonging
- Not Knowing What We Don’t Know
- Anti-Black Bias and MLK Planning
- The Dominant Culture in the USA
- The Dominant Culture Through the Lens of People of Color
- Somebody Said Something Racist, What Should I Do?

VCS staff members have participated in the following annual national conferences and professional development opportunities:

NAIS People of Color Conference
The Privilege Institute Conference
NYSAIS Diversity Education and Justice in the Curriculum
NYSAIS Educating Boys Workshop
Educating Girls Symposium
Asian Educators Alliance
NYSAIS Institute for Teaching Diversity and Social Justice
Building Antiracist White Educators
Additional PD Completed by Staff

PARENT ENGAGEMENT

Families of VCS students are not only invited to share in and celebrate their children's learning in many ways, but are also encouraged to access learning facilitated by the school themselves. A Diversity & Inclusion Speaker Series, D&I Parent Book Club, Listening Sessions and various affinity groups remain open to all parents throughout the year, ensuring all have access to resources to grow their awareness around topics related to diversity and inclusion and gain tools and strategies for working with their children, as well as spaces where they can discuss difficult topics, share personal thoughts and experiences and offer support.

All Diversity & Inclusion parent programming is supported by a Diversity & Inclusion Committee comprised of VCS parent volunteers from all backgrounds. The members of this Committee seek to support fellow families in their affirmation and development of ethnic, racial, and social identity by designing and participating in events and activities that further the goals of our Diversity Statement. This Committee meets monthly and all parents are encouraged to join.

Parent Affinity Groups provide a space for individuals to share experiences speaking from the “I” perspective. These groups bring together parents raising children of the same or similar racial or ethnic background. The three primary goals of affinity spaces are:

To enhance the experiences of those who share the identity
Extend levels of understanding about issues that may impact different social identity groups
Share ways to celebrate and advocate for cross-cultural understanding

The D&I Parent Book Club provides an opportunity for parents to educate themselves about issues related to diversity and inclusion. Book selections are collaboratively determined by the participants. Parent Book Club Books have included:

Passing by Nella Larson
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT

Our social studies-centered curriculum is designed to provide VCS children with an understanding of themselves and the world across time and place, peoples and cultures. Students of all ages learn about important changemakers throughout history and use their stories to gain an understanding of the importance of advocacy and allyship. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is marked by an all-school assembly that serves the dual purpose of celebrating Dr. King’s legacy and launching a school-wide project inspired by Dr. King’s life and work.

When students move into the Upper School, their Advisory classes and division-wide Community Time meetings are often used as opportunities to examine the social dynamics that can lead to division and discord as well as strategies for establishing connections across difference and promoting greater acceptance within themselves and others. Upper School students learn skills and strategies to take action in areas they would like to see change, and are invited to participate in a number of student groups based on their identities and/or the focus of their allyship.

Upper School student groups include:

SOCS (Students of Color Support) provides ongoing support to students of color at VCS and offers an outlet for students to speak freely about issues relating to diversity and the many ways in which their lives are personally affected by race each day.
Genders & Sexualities Alliance (G.S.A.) is a group open to all Upper Schoolers who wish to learn about issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community and their allies. Participating students have the opportunity to connect with G.S.A. clubs at other Downtown Independent School Consortium (D.I.S.C.) schools, an alliance that provides valuable leadership experience in seeking change, advocating positions, negotiating agreements and communicating with peers and adults.
Power of Women (P.O.W.) was created with the goal to create a safe, judgement-free space within the VCS community where all students can express their thoughts on women empowerment, gender roles and other present-day issues. Led by students, P.O.W provides a welcoming environment that encourages its members to share their opinions and to listen to other perspectives and ideas.
Students Organizing Against Racism (S.O.A.R.) works to promote understanding of the history and structure of racism. The Director of Diversity & Inclusion co-facilitates S.O.A.R. with students. The group introduces students to the skills needed to interrupt racism and microaggressions, as well as to develop a healthy and positive racial identity.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

Diversity: Psychological, physical and social differences that occur among any and all individuals, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, mental and physical ability and learning styles.

Equity: Everyone receiving what they need to have access, opportunities, and a fair chance to succeed. Equity recognizes that the same for everyone (equality) doesn’t truly address needs and therefore specific solutions and remedies are necessary.

Inclusion: A commitment to respecting, representing and accepting diverse social groups and identities; an environment where all people feel like they belong. (In K-12 learning environments, inclusion can sometimes also refer to the practice of integrating students with disabilities into the classroom setting.)

Racism: "The marginalization and/or oppression of people of color based on a socially constructed racial hierarchy that privileges white people.” - ADL

Antiracism: Actively working to dismantle the system of advantage and oppression based on race.

Microaggression: A term coined by psychologist Derald W. Sue that refers to the everyday slights, indignities, put-downs and insults that people of color, women, LGBTQ populations and other marginalized people experience in their day-to-day interactions. Microaggressions can appear to be compliments but often contain a “metacommunication” or hidden insult to the target group. Microaggressions are often outside the level of conscious awareness of the people who say them, which means they can be unintentional, and may be communicated verbally and/or nonverbally.

Please email vcsdiversity@vcs-nyc.org with any questions.

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