Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

List of 3 items.

• Why is Diversity Important?

  Numerous studies have demonstrated that the diversity of a school directly contributes to the quality of its students’ education.
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  Exposed to a variety of perspectives, students learn to think critically, to challenge their assumptions, and to explore alternative approaches and solutions to real world problems. We know as well that children grow best when they feel wholly safe and wholly welcome. Students bring their personal backgrounds and histories to the classroom and their classmates and their teachers are richer for that gift.
  
  

  The diversity of our community is matched by our emphasis on multicultural education and our ongoing focus on the lived experience of our students and teachers inside and outside the walls of the school. The awareness that we live in a global community, and that contributions to our society have come from every corner of the globe and every strata of society, is woven into the GDS curriculum. At GDS, we prepare our students to live in the world.

• So What Do We Do?

  The Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is charged with ensuring that diversity, social justice, and inclusivity, as foundational philosophies, are integrated throughout the community and curriculum at GDS.
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  As our understanding of what it means to be a truly just, inclusive, and equitable school and society has expanded, so too has the work of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The office works closely with the divisional principals and faculty and staff to support a diverse body of learners and develop a keener sense of what each child needs to flourish. Affinity groups provide support for community members as related to various personal identifiers, including gender, sexual identity, race and ethnicity, and religious and spiritual beliefs. The office also provides opportunities for students to be engaged in active social justice work.

• GDS's Statement of Inclusion

  Georgetown Day School is devoted to continuously building an inclusive community open to a multitude of perspectives.
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  As an inclusive community, we uphold that everyone will engage in the work of social justice within all aspects of school life. We work to ensure that our mission is a living guide that we consistently and honestly act upon and assess. As such, to ensure that we actively live our mission grounded in social justice, equity and inclusion, we, the GDS community, make the following commitments:

  • We commit to being a school where students, faculty, staff, families, and alumni feel respected and valued for being their full authentic selves.
  • We commit to taking responsible action to build a foundation of cultural competency, aimed at lifting the strengths, needs, and experiences of all in our community and beyond.
  • We commit to proactively design and deliver an inclusive and equitable, student-centered curriculum which honors the diverse identities of all students in our community.
  • We commit to implementing this curriculum in ways that promote understanding others and ourselves in the world around us.
  • We commit to learning and growing in the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion and sharing our work forward beyond our school’s walls.
  • We commit to learning intentionally from our mistakes and working to make positive changes in our community and in our world.
  • We commit to asking for support when engaged in the difficult and complex conversations and challenges before us. We will seek differing perspectives, remaining open-minded to others’ views, and listening and withholding judgment when possible.
  • We commit to intentionally following up on these conversations using compassion, a willingness to work together for positive change, understanding, connection, and growth.
  • Furthermore, we commit to fostering collegial relationships through interactions that are meaningful, honest, direct and joyful.