Building an Equitable Community
One of our highest values at Bright Water Waldorf School in honoring the humanity of every individual. We believe that by learning and growing within a diverse and vibrant community, each student can best meet the challenges of the human being in the modern world. In this spirit, we welcome, value, and support families of all races, ethnicity, national origins, religions, economic backgrounds, abilities, sexual orientations, and gender identities and expressions. We seek to provide an environment that require people to learn to engage with differences and to be willing to listen and to find common ground. Therefore, one of our highest goals is to have our school community reflect the abundant and changing diversity of our city, the United States as a whole, and the world.
From NWAIS Self-Study, 2018-19 Academic Year
The Bright Water Waldorf Board of Trustees fully endorses this statement from the Association of Waldorf Schools in North America.
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee
The DEI Committee creates regular opportunities for study for faculty and staff. Our mandate includes Preparing, Supporting and Empowering each other to take inspired anti-racist action at Bright Water by:
Offering weekly “Food for Thought” discussion topics for faculty liaison groups
Proposing criteria for looking at the curriculum with a DEI lens
Supporting faculty with curriculum resources to engage in anti-racist education
Connecting the Bright Water Waldorf parent community with local events and speakers
DEI Community Conversations
DEI Community Conversations take place on the 1st Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm. These conversations are an opportunity for members of the Bright Water community to learn more about topics of diversity, equity and inclusion with the goal of raising awareness to ultimately effect ongoing positive change within the school.
Food for Thought
Our faculty and staff review and discuss topical articles and meet for discussion each week. Please check back often for resources that might support your own work in these areas.
topic 1:
September 3, 2020 - White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack - Peggy McIntosh
topic 2:
September 17, 2020 - Ending Curriculum Violence - Teaching Tolerance.org
topic 3:
October 1, 2020 - Looking at our Festivals through a DEI Lens - Envisioning our Winter Festival
TOPIC 4:
October 30, 2020 - Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris, Featuring: Why We're All Suffering from Racial Trauma (Even White People) -- and How to Handle It — Guest Speaker: Resmaa Menakem
TOPIC 5:
November 12, 2020 - Divali in the Classroom - Teaching Tolerance.org
TOPIC 6:
December 3, 2020 - Implicit Bias - New York Times Video: Check Our Bias to Wreck Our Bias AND Mahzarin R. Banaji - Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People