Dana Hall | Advocating for Racial Justice

ANTI-RACIST ACTION PLAN

In the spirit of E Pluribus Dana and in alignment with our aspiration to deepen and expand who we are as a school and community, Dana Hall School is stepping decisively into a new era. With your support and championing, we are not only announcing it now; we are moving forward. In addition to implementing the recommendations made by Diversity Directions (DD), an aspiration outlined in Vision 2025: Enriching and Extending the Dana Difference, Dana Hall commits to making tangible and impactful changes through action steps for strategic anti-racism. We have used suggestions that the Association of Independent Schools of New England’s (AISNE) Diversity Practitioners issued in June 2020 and calls to action from community members to inform this plan.

General Themes of Anti-racist Action Plan

Increase number of Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) faculty, staff, and students
Create a more inclusive environment for BIPOC students and adults
Commit to curricular change to uplift anti-racist teaching in all subjects and with all grades, starting with curriculum audit with view towards anti-racism
Increase accountability and action with regard to community, equity, and inclusion (CEI) efforts to ensure improved BIPOC student experience

We commit to increasing the number of BIPOC faculty, staff and students. (DD Recommendations IV.A.2)

Maintain and increase representation of faculty and staff of color in all departments
Continue to implement the recommendations from Diversity Directions for attracting and retaining a diversity of faculty and staff (DD Recommendations IV.A.1-5)
Continue to expand hiring network in creative ways such as leveraging the SHADES Alumnae Chapter Facebook group to post job opportunities and continuing to post on Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) Career Centers
Continue to recruit a diversity of domestic students by strengthening partnerships with community based organizations and schools that help underserved students apply to independent schools (DD Recommendations V.A.1-5)
Maintain presence at Admission fairs and forums that primarily recruit students of color

We will create a more inclusive environment for BIPOC students and adults.

Partner with outside organization to provide ongoing training for adults and students on how to more effectively engage in race-related discussions inside and outside the classroom
Work to increase enrollment of BIPOC students in Honors, AP, and advanced level courses
Create listening groups with each group of stakeholders—students, faculty, staff, alumnae, parents/guardians, and trustees—to further understand questions and concerns around strategic CEI initiatives already in place
Review Inclusion and Diversity statement with a view to including anti-racism
Assess and improve affinity group programming in order to more effectively mitigate cultural isolation (DD Recommendations V.C.1-4)
Codify process for starting new affinity groups on campus if requested by underrepresented students and communicate process to community
Create a racial equity communications strategy that includes community-wide messages from the Head of School to respond to national racial and social inequities, such as the recent killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade, and Breonna Taylor
Ensure there is a BIPOC counselor who is accessible to both Middle School (MS) and Upper School (US) students
Partner with the SHADES Alumnae Chapter to affirm and support BIPOC students
Create parent programs to address the complex interdependence of racism, privilege, and economic systems of oppression in the ongoing history of predominantly white institutions (PWI)

We commit to curricular change to uplift antiracist teaching in all subjects and at all age levels.

Launch a curriculum audit to identify gaps for both skills and content with view towards anti-racist action
Develop and expand antiracist Forum curriculum and make accessible for use as an interdisciplinary tool by August 2020
Develop antiracist orientation program and/or required Peer Education night focused on addressing Microaggressions in predominantly white institutions (PWI)
Continue to incorporate education on BIPOC leaders in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) fields
Continue to investigate connecting community service initiatives with formal curriculum

We will increase accountability with regard to CEI efforts to ensure improved BIPOC student experience.

Determine and institute the most effective metrics to assess Dana Hall’s progress on this action plan; these metrics will be based on best practices, feedback and data
Develop a clear protocol for reporting and responding to bias incidents and communicate that protocol (DD Recommendations V.B.1)

Engage students and faculty/staff in the development of this process/platform this summer to have ready to launch by August 2020

Include a commitment to antiracism as well as growth and performance in CEI work as part of employee and program evaluation systems
Engage CEI Council in implementation and assessment of antiracist action plan (DD Recommendations II.C.4)
Develop Critical Friend Groups for faculty and advisors to support learning, professional development, and outcomes
Hire an outside consultant to periodically assess progress of school in anti-racist action and CEI work
Communicate progress on implementation of the Diversity Directions Recommendations on website

Specific to the Board of Trustees:

Create CEI Committee on Board of Trustees
Address the complex interdependence of racism, privilege, and economic systems of oppression in the ongoing history of predominantly white institutions (PWI) during Trustee orientation (DD Recommendations II.A.3)
Provide ongoing educational opportunities to Trustees to support Board leadership in anti-racist action and CEI
Increase information about the Board of Trustees’ composition, experience, and commitment to CEI on the website in order to increase transparency about Board Leadership in Inclusion and Diversity (DD Recommendations II.A.1)
Include on Board self-evaluation an expectation that it is fulfilling the goals of the Inclusion and Diversity Statement (DD Recommendations I.A.3)

Commitment to Anti-Racism

On June 2, 2020, Head of School Katherine Bradley shared an email with our school community, in response to the tragic death of George Floyd and recent national events. Her words reflect Dana Hall School's core values, as stated in our Inclusion and Diversity Statement. We encourage families, faculty, staff and alumnae to reflect on her message, continue to develop compassion, and stand up against hate and racism.

We also recognize that compassion and enhanced understanding cannot serve as our only goals.

Since then, a number of our community members, including alumnae, current students, faculty, staff, administrators, and parents, have reached out to urge our school to do more to deliver on its unfulfilled promise to “...build an inclusive community that respects and affirms each of its members honoring their diversity of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, and socioeconomic status.” We hear our community members and unequivocally recommit to providing anti-racist education and condemning hate, systemic oppression, and violence towards Black lives.

We recognize even more clearly the work that we all need to do to further our school’s commitment to equity and inclusion. We do not want one more student to enter or graduate from Dana Hall and feel they are not accepted and loved for exactly who they are.

Declaration of Anti-Racist Values and Actions

Dana Hall condemns racism in all of its forms - blatant and obvious, subtle and diffuse, ever-present and utterly destructive. But condemnation is not enough. Systemic racism must be addressed with action. And action should begin with education.

We will seek not just to reduce racism or racist incidents that occur between community members, but to proactively be anti-racist.

We immediately commit to:

Training our community (students and adults) on how to more effectively engage with race-related discussions inside and outside the classroom beginning in the fall and on an ongoing basis.
Developing an annual report that transparently outlines the School's objectives and progress related to racial equity.
Continuing to identify new ways of recruiting and retaining students, faculty, and staff of color.
Creating a permanent page on the School's website dedicated to resources that advance racial understanding, including a core set of dynamic resources for each of our stakeholders: current and prospective students, families, alumnae, board of trustees, faculty, and staff.
Collecting feedback and data to assess our progress and refine our goals.