Chandler School Launches We Are United

This fall, Chandler School debuted our new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement which intentionally aligns with Chandler’s mission and upcoming Strategic Plan. In connection with our overall goals, the DEI Office will lead dynamic programming that involves every member of our school community. The four elements of our We Are United programming include:

 

We are excited to build on last year’s successful heritage months programming. This year’s series will be broader and include Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Black History Month, Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month. We endeavor to add new recognitions as the years progress. 

We will also continue our much-loved Chandler tradition of recognizing all cultures within our community during Heritage Week which concludes with our annual Heritage Picnic. During this event, our field will be filled with food from each region of the world to represent our families’ heritages and backgrounds. Please stay tuned for more information as we welcome you to campus for this community gathering. 

 

To intentionally integrate Chandler’s Heritage Week with our classroom curriculum, we are enthusiastic about our new school-wide focus on exploring the continents and people of the world. As our global society becomes increasingly diverse and interconnected, we want to immerse our students in learning about the world throughout their journey at Chandler. Beginning this year, each grade level (and their buddies) will focus on a continent and spend time over the following weeks engaging in learning and activities related to this area of the world. As students continue on their Chandler journey, they will have the opportunity to learn about each of the continents to promote a broad and global understanding of societies and the world around them. 

Throughout the school year, the DEI Office will work in partnership with our teachers and community to further expand a culturally responsive, affirming and challenging learning program for our students. 

 

In partnership with CFA, Chandler will offer two Parent Education opportunities to draw our community together as we learn about emerging trends in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and take action to enhance belongingness in our community. We strive to connect the learning between our students, employees and families to strengthen our collective understanding and commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. 

 

With our goal of creating learning experiences that are robust, challenging and affirming, Chandler will provide professional development opportunities to all of our employees that expand on their extensive knowledge and classroom expertise. These opportunities will build on faculty and staff learning related to identity, implicit and unconscious bias, and microaggressions, as well as our work with organizations such as Challenge Success, Gender Spectrum, Pollyanna and VISIONS, Inc. Many employees will also continue to participate in our Equity Team, which is led by our DEI Office and offers the chance to engage with colleagues around implementing equity-minded practices in our classrooms and school community.