Equity & Social Impact
Finding your voice is a process that requires meaningful collaboration and empathy within a community.
Drew's inclusive community is made up of diverse people and allows every single person to show up and be their authentic selves. Equity and social impact work at Drew fosters an environment in which equity and respect for others are core and where you can show up without concern of prejudice.
The goal of equity and social impact work at Drew is:
Drew's inclusive community is made up of diverse people and allows every single person to show up and be their authentic selves. Equity and social impact work at Drew fosters an environment in which equity and respect for others are core and where you can show up without concern of prejudice.
The goal of equity and social impact work at Drew is:
- To allow students to learn about themselves as multifaceted individuals.
- To learn about and how to respect the differences and similarities of others.
- To be able to broaden awareness about the world and how it interconnects with one's own life.
- To develop cultural competency.
- To build a community of trust, honesty, openness, dialogue, and respect here at Drew.
Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
In order to allow for our mission to empower student voice and maximize impact, the Drew community is committed to equity, representation, and social justice* that is grounded in a community of care. We bring these values to life through curriculum and programs that promote respect and belonging.** Drew’s approach reflects our belief that social justice work is grounded in appreciation for, expression of, and attention to each person’s intersecting identities.By creating an inclusive environment without tolerance of discrimination, Drew provides the opportunity for continuous challenge and growth. We hold ourselves accountable to these values through our policies and practices.
**Belonging: “More than just being seen or feeling included, belonging entails having a voice and the opportunity to use it to make demands upon society and political institutions. Belonging is more than having access; it is about the power to co-create the structures that shape a community.” (from “Redefining Who Belongs”--The Othering and Belonging Institute)
*Social Justice: A process, not an outcome, which (1) seeks fair (re)distribution of resources, opportunities, and responsibilities; (2) challenges the roots of oppression and injustice; (3) empowers all people to exercise self-determination and realize their full potential; (4) and builds social solidarity and community capacity for collaborative action.--Center for the Study of Social Policy
**Belonging: “More than just being seen or feeling included, belonging entails having a voice and the opportunity to use it to make demands upon society and political institutions. Belonging is more than having access; it is about the power to co-create the structures that shape a community.” (from “Redefining Who Belongs”--The Othering and Belonging Institute)
What do these practices look like at Drew, and how do they reflect the school’s mission?
The commitments in Drew’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging are both aspirational and real. They are aspirational because they reflect Drew School’s very real commitments. However, we are not yet “all the way there;” we work towards these aspirations daily. Our commitments are real because our movement towards these goals is reflected in our policies and practices and is woven into our professional development. In these ways, we are consistently deepening our understanding and getting closer to our goals for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
List of 3 items.
-
Equity
Courageous Conversation About Race:- Faculty and Staff: Over 20 hours of training and discussion about personal and professional experiences with race.
- Small group discussions
- Affinity group sessions.
- Student discussions in the Courageous Conversation about Race Protocol.
Faculty and Staff Professional Development:- Regular professional development focused on equity and inclusion.
Learning Support, such as:- Learning Plans
- Differentiated instruction
- Herbst Learning Center
Financial aid program:- Supports student engagement in all parts of the Drew experience.
-
Representation
An integrated approach to mental health across the school.- Bring Change to Mind steering committee and club
- Annual Mental Health Summit
- Focus on Intersections of identity and mental health.
A range of forms of expression:- Using voice, body, language to express in a variety of ways
- Arts and performance: sharing one’s ideas in the broader community
Curriculum:- Incorporation of content related to race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexual orientation into courses.
Experiential Education Program:- Encourages students to explore their range of interests and abilities.
-
Social Justice
A focus on reflection:- Developing the understanding that every person has their own “why” that influences their engagement in the community.
- Encouraging authentic questions in classes
- Affinity groups
- Shanti Alliance
Advisory Program:- Identity, Equity and Social Justice are embedded throughout the advisory curriculum.
- Every student is seen and heard.
The Senior Project:- Empowers students to explore their own interests while exploring a social justice issue.
- Diversity, Identity, Justice, and Action integrated into Essential Questions and Enduring Understandings across the curriculum.
2021-22 Highlights
Shanti Alliance
Drew is a member school of the Shanti Alliance, a coalition of schools in Hawai’i, California, and Hong Kong that is committed to exploring and discussing equity and social justice. Each year, the Alliance asks school cohorts, made up of students and faculty mentors, to engage in a year-long exploration of issues of diversity, equity and inclusion to design an action project that promotes and affirms the value, dignity, and humanity of everyone in their school community. Some of this year’s Shanti Alliance activities include:
Curriculum Design
Drew faculty is in the midst of a collaboration that will result in increased capacity with the integration of social justice-focused themes and content into Drew’s curriculum and pedagogy. The curriculum design project integrates Understanding by Design’s curricular framework with Learning for Justice’s Social Justice Standards.
Courageous Conversation About Race
Drew’s faculty and staff are currently in the second year of Courageous Conversation about Race. During the first year, the faculty and staff were led by facilitators from the Pacific Educational Group as we learned about the Courageous Conversation protocol while engaging in discussion about race in the United States. This was followed by affinity group work and a year-end capstone session, each of which gave us additional experience with the protocol. In the second year, Drew’s ten-person Equity Leadership Team is facilitating focused, protocol-informed discussions that invite the faculty and staff to reflect upon our racial identities, experiences with race, and how race impacts our work in the school.
Affinity Groups
Drew builds community by intentionally devoting space and time for students to connect with peers linked by a common background, interest, or purpose through affinity groups.
Whether it’s based on cultural and ethnic background, nationality, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, religion or creed, ability/disability, learning difference, age or generation, beliefs and values, or attitudes and opinions, these groups provide students space to explore and share issues of identity.
Whether it’s based on cultural and ethnic background, nationality, socioeconomic status, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, religion or creed, ability/disability, learning difference, age or generation, beliefs and values, or attitudes and opinions, these groups provide students space to explore and share issues of identity.
List of 7 items.
-
Asian American and Pacific Islander
AAPI provides Drew's Asian American and Pacific Islander students a safe space to share their experiences, discuss issues related to race and identity, and explore the many different cultures of their roots in Asia and the Pacific Islands. -
Black Student Union
Black Student Union provides black students at Drew a safe space to be able to speak openly and honestly about the challenges they face both within the school and beyond. -
Drew Jew Crew
The Drew Jew Crew celebrates and honors the rich religious, historical, and cultural traditions of Judaism. In addition to providing an affinity space for Jewish-identifying students, the Jew Crew sometimes celebrates these traditions with the entire Drew student community. -
First Generation Club
The First Generation Club brings together students who are first generation Americans to discuss and celebrate their experiences with the cultural and linguistic diversity that is part of their daily lives. -
Gender and Sexuality Awareness
Gender and Sexuality Awareness (GSA) is a safe space for students of all sexual orientations and gender identities to discuss LGBTQ+ issues. -
LatinX
LatinX provides students a safe space to celebrate, cultivate, and promote awareness of their Spanish speaking cultural heritage. -
Women's Group
Women’s Group is a safe space for self-identified women to meaningfully engage with their individual and shared experiences.
Self-Reported Racial/Ethnic Groups 2020-2021
List of 8 items.
-
52.3%
White -
19.8%
Latinx/Hispanic American -
23.3%
Asian American -
26.7%
Multiracial -
7%
Black/African American -
2.3%
Middle Eastern American -
3.5%
Native American -
2.3%
Pacific Islander American
Drew’s Courageous Conversation Facilitators
List of 10 members.
Experience What High School Should Be
Drew knows and believes in teenagers. We engage each student in a process of intellectual discovery to develop an individual voice, the confidence to express it, and the empathy to understand its impact.
Social
Contact
© 2018 Drew School. All Rights Reserved.