Anti-Racism Action Plan
Packer’s Board of Trustees and Head of School Dr. Jennifer Weyburn have made key commitments to actively create and maintain an explicitly anti-racist culture at our school, one that is backed by transparent anti-racist policies and consistent anti-racist practices. Racism in any form is unacceptable in the Packer community.
Q&A about the Plan
- How did the Plan develop, and who is leading its implementation?
- What expertise and resources does the Plan draw upon?
- How does the Plan relate to Packer’s broader diversity and equity efforts?
- Is curriculum change part of the Plan?
How did the Plan develop, and who is leading its implementation?
During the summer of 2020, in response to the ongoing national reckoning around race, racial violence, and inequity, we held conversations with every constituency — students, families, faculty, staff, alumni, and our Board. Through those conversations, it became clear that the school had not been doing enough to ensure that all of our students have felt seen, heard, and valued as members of our community.
Though we had already been working intentionally to create an equitable, inclusive school, the testimonies of our students of color, especially our Black students, further showed that our existing policies, programs, and practices have not adequately achieved the results we have been seeking.
Our Board of Trustees made a commitment in June 2020 to actively create and maintain an explicitly anti-racist culture at our school, one that is backed by transparent anti-racist policies and consistent anti-racist practices.
The Plan is moving forward with leadership from the Board, our Head of School, and our administrative team. Administrators, faculty, and staff have been involved in various aspects of the Plan. Students and parents have also been involved in parts of the Plan.
The Board is regularly apprised of progress and has been partnering with the administration to evaluate and plan next steps.
What expertise and resources does the Plan draw upon?
At Packer, we aim to be a “learning organization.” We seek to continually learn and improve in service of every student’s education. As such, we reference educational associations and research-based frameworks that help us implement programs to enhance our students’ learning. Our Anti-Racism Action Plan allows us to focus on and deepen key aspects of the diversity, equity, and inclusion work we have been doing already.
Our leadership and faculty bring significant knowledge in areas of anti-racism and cultural competence in education. In addition, we often consult external expertise, and this year has been no exception. Experts and resources have been identified through recommendations from our independent-school networks, Board members, faculty, and alumni. In addition, Nicole Lavonne Smith P’26 and Adeyemi Mchunguzi ’09 are some of the community members who have led training sessions with faculty, staff, students, and families. For more information about our consultants, please see How we are supporting our faculty, staff, and trustees in developing anti-racist practices, under Current Status of the Plan, farther down this webpage.
Our Plan meets several of the accreditation criteria stipulated by Packer’s accrediting body, the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS):
- That the issues of equity, justice, and anti-bias are integrated into the educational program.
- That the school has a program that respects and supports the intellectual, social, physical, aesthetic, and emotional needs of every student.
Our longstanding commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is also informed by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Principles of Good Practice - Equity and Justice.
How does the Plan relate to Packer’s broader diversity and equity efforts?
Our goal is for Packer to be an environment in which each student feels safe, challenged, celebrated, and an integral part of Packer. We believe this will truly allow every student to thrive and reach their potential. Further, Packer’s mission statement, adopted in 2008, promises to develop students into “empathetic, responsible, globally-minded individuals.” We would not be meeting our mission without this essential work.
We live in an unequal society. The events of 2020-21 have starkly shown that without careful and continuous inspection and improvement efforts, our structures and processes can result in a racially inequitable environment. As we make progress on aspects of the Plan, we develop and enhance our anti-racist practices. We believe this will also support our larger goal of preparing students to become contributing members of a more just and interconnected society.
This year, as part of the Anti-Racist Action Plan, we are taking a deeper look at demographic and student-achievement data that can give us more information. This move will allow us to better assess the impact of our efforts, whether connected to admissions, curriculum, parent partnership, and most importantly, student experience.
Questions?
If you have diversity and equity programming questions, resources, or suggestions, please email John Daves, Head of Equity and Inclusion, at jdaves@packer.edu.
Is curriculum change part of the Plan?
Given our commitment to offering an excellent educational program, our curriculum constantly evolves, based on research, faculty collaboration, and student feedback. It is hard to quantify if there are more changes this year than in previous years, given that faculty evaluate and refine their units of study every year.
Overall curriculum development is addressed throughout the year by our cross-divisional Academic Council, led by Elizabeth Hastings, Associate Head of School and Academic Dean. Members include: the Head of School, Division Heads, Department Heads, Deans, and our Equity and Engagement teams. The Academic Council was formed in 2017-18 and at that time began an examination of our curriculum through the lens of race and other identifiers. Evolutionary changes to course content are made yearly at departmental and divisional levels.
It is worth noting that curriculum is both what students learn (content, skills, and mindsets) and how they learn it (pedagogical strategies). Our reflection on our pedagogical strategies has been particularly focused this year. Our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work is closely linked to social-emotional learning (SEL), which plays a fundamental role in student achievement. SEL empowers students to better understand themselves and others, which leads to greater success in creating a learning environment that meets their needs and the needs of others.
Our academic leadership is studying Elena Aguilar’s Coaching for Equity framework, and our whole faculty and administrative staff have been engaged in a year-long training with educator and facilitator Liza Talusan, Ph.D.
Questions?
If you have specific questions about your child’s curriculum, please reach out to their teacher(s).
If you have general curriculum questions, observations, or suggestions, please email Elizabeth Hastings, Associate Head of School and Academic Dean, at ehastings@packer.edu.
Overview of the Plan
Commitments Announced in June 2020, in Brief
Packer’s Board of Trustees and Head of School Dr. Jennifer Weyburn made the following key commitments to foster an anti-racist culture at the school.
For the complete list of actions and details, see our initial June 2020 announcement of the Action Plan.
For news about our progress since June, scroll down to Current Status of the Plan.
Immediate Commitments (0-3 months)
-
Require active accountability for anti-racist behavior among community members
-
Enforce consistent faculty/staff mandatory reporting of race-based harassment as defined in the employee handbook
-
Create clear system for reporting race-based harassment with option of anonymity
-
Mandate annual anti-racism training for all faculty, staff, and trustees
-
Develop anti-racist evaluation processes for curriculum and teaching practices
-
Expand resources to support these initiatives
Ongoing Commitments (3-12 months)
-
Require active accountability for anti-racist behavior among community members
-
Increase diversity of our faculty, staff, and administration
-
Increase racial diversity of our student body
Accountability and Transparency
-
Establish an anti-racism advisory group
-
Create a webpage to track the school’s anti-racism efforts
Current Status of the Plan
As of June 3, 2021
- How we are creating an anti-racist community
- How we are creating a clear system for reporting race-based harassment with option of anonymity
- How we are supporting faculty, staff, and trustees in developing anti-racist practices
- How we are incorporating an anti-racist lens into our evaluation of curriculum (what we teach and how we teach)
- How we are supporting our anti-racism efforts
- How we are engaging all Packer constituents in our anti-racism work
- How we are tracking and sharing the status of our anti-racism efforts
How we are creating an anti-racist community
For resources, events, and trainings specifically designed for Packer families, please look under “How we are engaging all Packer constituents in our anti-racism work.”
- In fall 2021, we will again hold proactive meetings with students to discuss community norms, drawing particular attention to recent changes to our student handbooks.
Our 2021 Summer Reading program for all students in Grades 1 through 12 is modeled on the Reading Without Walls Challenge, created by Gene Leun Yang, cartoonist and teacher. - Throughout the year, Packer has collaborated with Eastern Educational Resource Collaborative (East Ed) to enhance our data analysis related to student achievement and community demographics (students, faculty, and staff) to evaluate success and set goals for the future. That process identified areas for improved data collection and more explicit and informative demographic reporting going forward.
- In April 2021, students, school professionals, alumni, and parents heard from athlete and activist Schuylar Bailar, who focused on his intersectionality intersectionality of being Transgender and Asian American.
- In March 2021, our school-wide Packer in Action program focused on “The Movement for Visibility, Inclusion, and Racial Justice.” Read story.
- Activist and scholar Dr. Bettina Love was the keynote speaker for Middle and Upper Schoolers; she also led an Upper School master class on prejudice, self-examination, and Black joy.
- Through the lens of identity, a panel of Middle School students spoke about their lived experiences noting both moments of tension among peers and ways in which the school has affirmed their identities.
- Other workshop topics included environmental and climate justice; visibility and inclusion in the music industry (with trustee Richard Story P’17, P’19); and storytelling about global identity in film (including a screening of Sela and a Zoom meeting with its South African student filmmakers).
- In January and February 2021, the Diversity and Equity team collaborated with the Health and Wellness team to offer divisional parent talks on the connection between social emotional learning, anti-racism, and healthy relationships.
- In August 2020, a faculty and staff orientation provided guidance on the mandatory reporting of race-based harassment as defined in the employee handbook.
- The testimonies from the BlackatPCI Instagram page (one of over 230 “Black at” accounts nationwide) were analyzed to identify areas for institutional improvement, and current students and faculty were contacted to follow-up on incidents mentioned. Analysis was shared with the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Board and the Packer Anti-Racism Council (PARC).
- Our 2021-22 student enrollment contract includes language related to all of our roles in working toward an anti-racist, anti-biased community.
How we are creating a clear system for reporting race-based harassment with option of anonymity
- In 2020-21, the Diversity and Equity Team conducted a cross-divisional review of disciplinary procedures regarding hate speech. The group identified areas for change, including an annual review of our systems and structures to repair harm experienced between community members. For an update on the Upper School Student-Faculty Justice Committee, please continue to the next category below — “How we are supporting faculty, staff, and trustees.”
- In Winter 2021, revised hate-speech policies for Middle and Upper School were developed by administrators and faculty, with input from students and families, and implemented.
- New protocols were developed and reviewed for students to report race-based harassment (student to student, adult to student, and student to adult). In the Upper School, this has involved a year-long process involving students, faculty, administrators, and counsel to develop a new set of boundaries guidelines for 2021-22. Regular updates on this process were given to the students and families across the 2020-21 school year.
- In September 2020, the reporting protocol for acts of discrimination and harassment was shared during faculty/staff and student orientations.
How we are supporting faculty, staff, and trustees in developing anti-racist practices
- The Upper School’s Student-Faculty Justice Committee (SFJC) was reconceived — a process initiated in 2019-20 — and all members received training in restorative justice practices from Nicole Lavonne Smith. The design of our disciplinary structures in our other divisions was also reviewed through a restorative lens.
- In 2020-21, all administrators, faculty, and staff participated in three sessions with Liza Talusan, a strategic-change partner specializing in diversity and equity. Through this work, participants will learn the difference between “diversity and inclusion” and “justice and equity.” They will also examine what needs to change regarding diversity and inclusion at Packer and how they can apply an equity approach to their own work.
- In Fall 2020, Packer’s Trustees participated in a mandatory day-long anti-racism training with the Center for Racial Justice in Education. In Winter 2020, the Alumni Board and the Parent Association Board participated in the same training.
- In Fall 2020, the Eastern Educational Resource Collaborative (East Ed), a non-profit centered around the pursuit of academic excellence via equitable teaching practices and healthy school climates, is aggregating and analyzing data to help Packer determine further action steps that will lead to a long-term anti-racism strategy.
- In November 2020, Adeyemi Mchunguzi ’09 of ASMT Solutions coached Packer administration in establishing culturally responsive hiring practices so we can build a more diverse and equitable workforce.
- In August 2020, Jackson Collins, executive director of educational access program Prep for Prep, led a workshop titled “Understanding the Experiences of Academically Talented Students of Color in Independent Schools,” which helped attendees better understand the racial stress, climate, and encounters that impact the experience of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) at predominantly white institutions like Packer. Participants included all divisional leadership teams and deans, department heads, grade-level coordinators, college counselors, diversity and equity coordinators, and community engagement coordinators.
How we are incorporating an anti-racist lens into our evaluation of curriculum (what we teach and how we teach)
- Throughout 2020-21, academic leaders studied Coaching for Equity: Conversations that Change Practice, which addresses supporting teachers in bringing an equity lens to their pedagogy. Coaching for Equity is a practice that helps teachers bring an equity lens to their pedagogy. In February, they worked with the author, Elena Aguilar of Equity Coaching, in a Q&A session on developing racially and culturally inclusive classrooms.
- Educational leaders developed a comprehensive set of anti-racist and anti-bias review rubrics for curriculum and school culture. The rubrics address the materials used in classes; the lived experiences of students in those classes; the PreKindergarten through 12th Grade learning scope and sequence, with attention to key entry years; and more.
- Through our professional development program, Teacher Growth Tuesdays, each faculty member using these rubrics to evaluate a unit in their curriculum for future development.
- Over the course of the 2020-21 school year, various academic departments partnered with students from the recently created Change Committee, plus experts Marie Michael of Embodied Coaching and Consulting and Aamera Siddqui of DeepSee Consulting and Exposed Brick Theater, to review curricula, modifications implemented, and the teaching targets going forward.
- Marie Michael provided ongoing training for department heads on facilitating curriculum design and teaching practices that incorporate a racial equity lens.
How we are supporting our anti-racism efforts
- As of June 2021, the school is seeking an Employee Relations Manager, who will work with faculty, staff, and school leadership to help us adopt a restorative approach to employment policies and procedures. The goal is to create and maintain an equitable workplace environment and enhance relationships among school employees.
- Conversations about the staffing, structure, and resourcing of the Diversity and Equity program took place throughout the 2020-21 year. When the school’s new strategic plan is launched in 2022, these issues will be revisited and adjustments identified to accommodate existing and future community needs and curricular needs.
- Substantial additional funds were allocated in 2020-21 to ensure the success of our anti-racism initiatives this school year. The annual budget and resources will be reviewed to ensure it reflects our commitment to support diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and offerings beyond the 2020-21 school year.
How we are engaging all Packer constituents in our anti-racism work
- Throughout 2020-21, the Parent Association (PA) created and supported multiple family affinity spaces: PA Black Alliance Group, White Accountability and Affinity, Packer Asian Family Alliance, and an LGBTQ+ group.
- Throughout 2020-21, the PA hosted events where students and school professionals were in dialogue with families directly about changes implemented, their own racial biographies, the role of student affinity spaces and clubs.
- In May 2021, the Diversity and Equity Office partnered with the Parent Association to host a Fireside Chat with Renee Tajima-Pena, producer of the PBS docuseries “Asian Americans” open to all community members, including incoming Packer families.
- In April 2021, students, school professionals, alumni, and parents heard from athlete and activist Schuylar Bailar, who focused on his intersectionality intersectionality of being Transgender and Asian American.
- In January and February 2021, the Diversity and Equity team collaborated with the Health and Wellness team to offer divisional family talks on the connection between social emotional learning, anti-racism, and healthy relationships.
- In January 2021 as part of its annual Martin Luther King Jr programming, the Parent Association leadership participated in and hosted an anti-racism workshop on the history of racism in the United States, led by Ayo Magwood.
- In Fall and Winter 2020-21, we conducted 15 focus groups to learn more about how our families, alumni, students, and faculty/staff experience Packer’s diversity and equity programs and initiatives. These focus groups were facilitated by East Ed.
- In Fall 2020, we piloted an anti-racism workshop series for families in each division, designed by our outside consultants and Packer’s Diversity and Equity Team.
- In October 2020, the Parent Association hosted a discussion of Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds and This Book is Antiracist: 20 Lessons on How to Wake Up, Take Action and Do the Work by Tiffany Jewell. These books were also read and discussed by students and faculty in the Middle School and Upper School.
- In September 2020, the Parent Association hosted a book talk with the author of Born Ready; The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope by Jodie Patterson P’17, P’24. The conversation highlighted the importance of healthy identity development for our children and detailed her family’s experiences with gender identity and race.
- In August 2020, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Board established the Packer Anti-Racism Council (PARC), co-chaired by trustees Jamillah Hoy-Rosas ’94 and Eric Ryan P ’28, ’30, a group including all of Packer’s constituents — trustees, students, parents, alumni, administration, staff and faculty. Over the course of this year, the group has been building understanding by meeting with various stakeholders, reviewing current programming and providing feedback, all with the aim of advancing our anti-racism commitments. View PARC members.
How we are tracking and sharing the status of our anti-racism efforts
In Fall 2020, we created this public webpage to provide updates on steps taken to fulfill our Anti-Racism Action Plan, including programming, community data, and accountability measures.
The Communications Office launched the newsletter IMPACT to share our anti-racism efforts with the entire Packer community. (The next issue will be published in mid-June 2021.)
This page was updated in August 2020, November 2020, December 2020, February 2021, and June 2021.