The Diversity Team
At ECF the work of diversity and community is the shared responsibility of the administration and faculty, in partnership with students and parents, in the belief and recognition that no one person alone can undertake the task of making a more inclusive, multicultural, and democratic school community. Engaging members of the community (students, faculty, parents, staff, board, and alumni) in dialogue and learning requires the collective effort and wisdom of a core group of people invested in and committed to the creation of a diverse school.
With this in mind, diversity initiatives and activities at Fieldston Upper, Fieldston Middle, Fieldston Lower, and Ethical Culture on a daily basis are supported by divisional diversity teams, led by the diversity coordinator in consultation with the principal and the dean of faculty. These diversity teams are comprised of faculty and administrators in each division that are actively involved in diversity efforts and programs. Each team supports the division’s multicultural programs, considers student support needs, promotes faculty development initiatives, and reviews the division’s key priorities.
In turn, the divisional teams are supported by the PreK-12 cross-divisional administration’s diversity group that meets in retreat three times a year, led by the head of school and dean of faculty, bringing together the diversity coordinators, principals, assistant principals, and other senior administrators to review goals and priorities in each division, discuss emerging issues, and coordinate the school's diversity program school-wide. The ongoing strategic planning and oversight of the school’s diversity mission is jointly undertaken by the head of school and dean of faculty.
Finally, all of these efforts are supported by the board of trustees diversity committee. This committee provides the administration with a forum for strategic thinking and institutional planning and communicates to the board as a whole the school’s efforts and initiatives to realize the goal of creating a school that reflects the full diversity of metropolitan New York and educates students to be globally and culturally aware citizens of a democratic society.
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