Anti-Racism Action Plan

Packer’s Board of Trustees and Head of School Dr. Jennifer Weyburn have made the following key commitments to foster an anti-racist culture at the school.

See Action Plan Status below for details about our progress.

Immediate Actions (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 Actions (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

• In October, the Parents 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 August, 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 Black at PCI Instagram page have been analyzed to identify areas for institutional improvement. Analysis will be shared with the Packer Anti-Racism Council (PARC) and the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Board to determine next steps.

• Working with legal counsel, we are developing a process to address these complaints. We are counseling current faculty and staff who have been named as having caused harm.

• The Diversity and Equity Team has conducted a cross-divisional review of disciplinary procedures regarding hate speech. The group has identified areas for change, including updates to the school’s hate-speech policy.

• Through an email at the beginning of the school year and back-to-school events for families, the Head of School and the Division Heads reviewed with families the Expectation of Families clause with respect to anti-racism in the existing enrollment contract.


• The reporting protocol for acts of discrimination and harassment was shared during faculty/staff and student orientations in September.
• The protocols will be posted on this webpage.

• This fall, all administrators, faculty, and staff are participating 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. 
• This fall, Packer’s Trustees participated in a mandatory day-long anti-racism training with the Center for Racial Justice in Education. The Alumni Board and the Parent Association Board will participate in the same training this winter.
• This fall, 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.
• We have piloted an anti-racism workshop series for families in each division, designed by our outside consultants and Packer’s Diversity and Equity Team. 
• Consultant Nicole Lavonne Smith has begun to train community members in restorative justice approaches to support the redesign of the Student-Faculty Justice Committee (SFJC) in the Upper School, as well as disciplinary structures across all of the divisions.
• In November, 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, Jackson Collins 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.

• Academic leaders are reading Coaching for Equity: Conversations that Change Practice, which addresses supporting teachers in bringing an equity lens to their pedagogy. In February, Academic leaders will have an opportunity to work with the author, Elena Aquilar of Equity Coaching, in a Q&A session about developing racially and culturally inclusive classrooms. 
• Educational leaders have reviewed and are in the process of revising Packer’s anti-racist review protocols. 
• This summer, a student-led Change Committee partnered with members of various departments and offices to reflect on the scope and sequence of Packer’s curriculum and to articulate action steps that incorporate an anti-racist approach and healthy identity development across the school.
• Marie Michael, of Embodied Coaching and Consulting, has begun providing ongoing training for department heads on facilitating curriculum design and teaching practices that incorporate a racial equity lens.

• The Program Leadership Team, working with trustees and consultants, will assess the current staffing and resourcing of our diversity and equity program and determine what needs to be outsourced.
• Substantial additional funds have been allocated 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.

• The Packer Anti-Racism Council (PARC), co-chaired by trustees Jamillah Hoy-Rosas ’94 and Eric Ryan P ’28, ’30, has been established to hold the school accountable for the implementation, monitoring, and sustainability of its Anti-Racism Action Plan. The group represents all of Packer’s constituents — trustees, students, parents, alumni, administration, staff and faculty — and is working in partnership with the full Board and school administration to advance our anti-racism commitments. (View PARC members.)
• Members of PARC are currently working with school leadership to calendar dates for focus groups with various stakeholders.

• The Communications Office has created this public webpage to provide updates on steps taken to fulfill our Anti-Racism Action Plan, including programming, community data, and accountability measures.