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Community, Equity and Inclusion

Community, Equity, and Inclusion are central to the Dana Hall experience. Our mission requires ongoing collective effort, strategic planning, reflection, and deep listening to members of our community. In doing so, we create space for complex and dynamic conversations, resulting in actions that address the challenges and rewards of an equitable and inclusive educational experience. 

Our work is guided by the standards of the NAIS Principles of Good Practice- Equity and Justice. This journey is a relentless pursuit of excellence in education, which means growth and social progress. Diverse perspectives and representation are fundamental to excellent education. We continue to work on our capacity to create a school where all students, families, and employees thrive. 

Rachel Nagler

Rachel Nagler joined Dana Hall School as the Director of Community, Equity and Inclusion in August 2021.

If you are looking to learn more, take a look at our student-led programs and explore how we celebrate and honor our community. You can learn more about how we define Community, Equity and Inclusion. See how our amazing faculty continue to build their skills and how families get involved. Get to know why and how we are deepening our work.    

With courage and humility, we move towards our goal of equipping our community with the knowledge and skills for an increasingly diverse, complex, and challenging world.

Rachel L. Nagler
Director of Community, Equity, and Inclusion

Inclusion and Diversity Statement

Dana Hall School believes that diversity and multiculturalism are key elements in fostering excellence in every aspect of our community.
We are committed to building 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 are committed to building an educational program that recognizes and values the many peoples and perspectives of our community and the world. We realize that conflicts may arise in the creation of such a community, but we see these possible conflicts as opportunities for growth, for open and honest communication, and for learning.
 
Through our commitment to diversity, the Dana Hall community prepares students for the challenges and choices they will face as women and citizens of the world.

Defining our Terms

Group of parents and faculty and all-girls school near Boston, MA.

 

Spotlight on: Families of Students of Color Collaborative

FSCC meets throughout the year for food, conversation, resource sharing, and community.

The purpose of the FSCC is to support Dana Hall in its efforts to become a more inclusive community. To this end, all parents/guardians of current students of color interested in community, equity, and inclusion are encouraged to participate; our hope is that parents/guardians of students of color will find this an especially welcoming home-away-from-home. 

 

Student clubs, affinity and alliance groups

Dana Hall offers a range of student-led culturally relevant clubs. Groups meet weekly or bi-weekly with a faculty advisor. Student affinity and alliance groups create a school environment that is responsive and supportive to students across many social identities. Affinity groups serve students who share a specific identity in service of finding commonalities, differences, support and connection. Alliance groups focus on a specific social identity, but are open to all invested in collaboration. Both serve an important purpose to ensure a healthy climate in a diverse school community.

Students share Lunar New Year traditions at a boarding school near Boston, MA.

Members of the International Student Alliance (ISA) and the Asian Affinity Group facilitated a Lunar New Year teach-in for members of the Middle School ALANA (Asian, Latina, African American and Native American) affinity group. The older students shared how they observe and celebrate the new year, and held a calligraphy activity with the younger students.

News

Faculty groups and professional development

AWARE (Association of White Anti-Racist Educators)  

AWARE provides the opportunity to engage in anti-racist work at Dana Hall School. The invitation is directed to White people in our community so that, as White people, we can directly address our significant role in perpetuating and dismantling systemic racism. All Dana Hall employees who identify as White are invited and encouraged to engage in AWARE. This work may help members identify new "tools" for their anti-racist toolkit that they can use in their work at Dana Hall and beyond. 

Goals of AWARE:
  • To build a strong community of anti-racist adults at Dana Hall School who are committed to supporting and holding each other accountable in furthering their anti-racist work. 
  • To identify tangible steps adults at Dana Hall can take to dismantle systemic racism in classrooms and across the broader community.
  • To establish a sense of urgency and confidence in members' work as anti-racist individuals. 

FOCUS (Faculty of Color United in Support)

FOCUS exists as a space to build community and support for faculty and staff who identify as people of color and recognize some of the challenges as a person of color navigating a predominantly white institution (PWI). 

Faculty and staff regularly participate in professional development that is focused on Equity and Inclusion work, including the National Association of Independent Schools' People of Color Conference, AISNE DEI conference, National Anti-Racist Teach In and Diversity Directions.

Rainbow Connections 

Rainbow Connections is an affinity group for LGBTQ-identifying adults that provides opportunities for members to get together and build community. 

From the Roar

Commitment at the Board level

The Community, Equity & Inclusion Committee of the Board of Trustees, or CEI Committee, has accountability at the foundation of its mission in assisting Dana Hall School leadership as they proactively expand diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism (DEIA) efforts that impact students, staff, faculty and other members of the school community. 

Among other responsibilities, the Committee: 

  • Provides Dana Hall School Trustees education that addresses the complex interdependence of racism, privilege, and economic systems of oppression in the ongoing history of predominantly white institutions (PWI). 
  • Reinforces a strong expectation of Trustees to participate in educational opportunities that expand their capacity to optimally support Board leadership and assist school leadership with accountability in advancing diversity equity, inclusion, and antiracism at Dana Hall School. 
  • Identifies educational opportunities that expand the capacity of the Trustees to optimally support board leadership and assist school leadership with accountability in advancing diversity equity, inclusion, and antiracism at Dana Hall School. 
  • Provides and updates information about the Board of Trustees’ composition, experience and commitment to CEI on the various communications platforms as appropriate, to improve transparency as regards Board of Trustees leadership and capacity in areas of CEI. 
  • Includes on the Board of Trustees self-evaluation a permanent section that elicits feedback on how the Board is fulfilling its DEIA goals as aligned with the Inclusion and Diversity Statement. 
  • Frames and determines the resource needs that will enable the Head of School and staff to launch and maintain efforts that advance diversity, equity, inclusion and antiracism. 
  • Identifies opportunities for Trustees to engage a diverse spectrum of students and alumnae on occasion to improve their understanding of the Board of Trustees’ work and composition, and for the purpose of deepening the Board of Trustees’ exposure to the multiplicity of student experiences and shared community. 
  • Works with the Board’s Investment Committee on socially-responsible investing. 
  • Expands inclusiveness of board-hired vendors.