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Helpful Resources for Students and Families

EQUITY-FOCUSED LANGUAGE

  • EQUITY:
  • INDIVIDUAL OR INTERPERSONAL RACISM:
  • INSTITUTIONAL RACISM:
  • IMPLICIT BIASES:
  • MICROAGGRESSIONS:
  • RACIAL INEQUITY:
  • CULTURE:

Every school and school system is intentionally built to ensure children of every race, ethnicity, language or other characteristics of their identity, have what they need to achieve academic, social, and emotional success. 

(adapted from The Leadership Academy's The ABCs of Equity)

The beliefs, attitudes and actions of individuals that support or perpetuate racism. This could include telling a racist joke or slur.

(adapted from The Leadership Academy's The ABCs of Equity)

The policies and practices within and across institutions that produce outcomes that chronically favor or put a racial group at a disadvantage. 

(adapted from The Leadership Academy's The ABCs of Equity)

Attitudes or stereotypes that subconsciously affect our understanding, actions and decisions.

(adapted from The Leadership Academy's The ABCs of Equity)

The everyday slights, insults, indignities and invalidations delivered toward people because of their visible or assumed racial/ethnic or other characteristics. 

(adapted from The Leadership Academy's The ABCs of Equity)

Two or more racial groups are not standing on approximately equal footing.

(adapted from The Leadership Academy's The ABCs of Equity)

The multiple components of one’s identity, including but not limited to race, economic background, gender, language, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, and ability that influence how people make meaning of the world around them. Culture describes how we live daily in terms of our language, ancestry, religion, food, dress, musical tastes, traditions, values, political and social affiliations, recreation and so on. Culture operates on three levels:

  • Surface culture: the observable and concrete elements of culture such as food, dress, music and holidays
  • Shallow culture: unspoken rules that guide and govern social interactions and norms such as courtesy, personal space, nonverbal communication 
  • Deep culture: tacit knowledge and unconscious assumptions that govern one’s worldview, including ethics, spirituality, health and group harmony.

(adapted from The Leadership Academy's The ABCs of Equity)

More Resources for Students and Families

Below you will find a list of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion resources for students, families, and educators. The list is not exhaustive, and will continue to expand as a collaborative effort with our community partners.

General Resources

LGBTQ+ Resources

Disability & Neurodiversity Resources

Religious & Cultural Observances

This section contains information on observances that occur during school days and thus impact the school experience of our observant students, parents and staff. Find out more about what these days mean to your observant friends and community members.

  • ADL Calendar of Observances
  • Good Friday (the Friday before Easter Sunday) is a Christian holiday commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus. Members of many Christian denominations observe Good Friday with fasting and church services. The date is based on the lunar calendar and is thus different every year, and usually differs between Western Christian and Eastern Orthodox denominations.
  • Passover, or Pesach, is an eight-day celebration observed by Jewish people every year, commemorating the anniversary of the Biblical Exodus from Egyptian slavery. Pesach is observed by avoiding leaven (chametz), and highlighted by the Seder meals that include four cups of wine, eating unleavened bread (matzah) and bitter herbs, and retelling the story of the Exodus.
  • Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar, observed by Muslims every year as a month of obligatory (fard) fasting (sawm), prayer, reflection and community. Observant Muslims refrain not only from food and drink, but also avoid some other behaviors such as listening to music while fasting. Some ways our school communities can support students and staff observing Ramadan include: providing excused time and space for them to pray; allowing them to remain seated while working; and excusing them from food-related activities (e.g., lunch or cafeteria duty).

If you would like to see information on resource or observance added to the DEI Resources page, please email the Director of DEI at cwashington@bemontschools.net