Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging & Justice

Our work to date

• Established scholarship programs to support equitable opportunity
• Secured grant funding for new books and creation of DEIJB classroom libraries
• Budgeted for faculty and staff to attend workshops on DEIBJ
• Diversity data gathered from our student population to inform enrollment goals
• Audited and developed inclusive admissions processes
• Increased diversity in our hiring, enrollment, and tuition assistance procedures
• Updated our mission statement
• Invited families to share their culture, heritage, and stories, fostering belonging in our community

Goals for Toddler-Primary DEIBJ work

• Identity: Demonstrate self-awareness, confidence, family pride, and positive social identities
• Diversity: Express comfort and joy with human diversity; accurate language for human differences; and deep, caring human connections
• Justice: Recognize unfairness, have language to describe unfairness, and understand that unfairness hurts
• Action: Demonstrate empowerment and the skills to act, with others or alone, against prejudice and/or discrimination

Goals for Elementary-Middle School DEIBJ work

• Identity: Recognize traits of the dominant culture, their home culture, and other cultures, and understand how they negotiate their own identity in multiple spaces
• Diversity: Examine diversity in social, cultural, political, and historical contexts
• Justice: Analyze the harmful impact of bias and injustice on the world, historically and today, and learn about figures, groups, and events relevant to the history of social justice around the world
• Action: Recognize their own responsibility to stand up to exclusion, prejudice, and injustice and make plans for how they can contribute to a more socially just world

Our work ahead

• Continue to invest in DEIBJ and anti-bias professional development
• Increase our scholarship giving
• Explore additional revenue streams to offset tuition
• Continue to expand classroom materials that reflect on and foster a deep diverse understanding
• Seek out a school-wide anti-racist curriculum focusing on lessons that integrate academics, anti-racism, and social, emotional, cognitive, and identity development to support learning, well-being, justice, and joy

We commit to creating a culture of belonging by leveraging continuous learning, addressing biases, evaluating educational decisions and curriculum, and supporting responsible action. The Montessori principles, philosophy, and tenets align with the core values of diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and justice (DEIBJ), and we recognize that this is a work in progress that is continuously evolving.

Maria Montessori believed each generation of children brings renewed hope for a more peaceful world. But so often in our practice we make the mistake of isolating peace as a separate curricular area. As children move from respecting their physical space to respectful collaboration, from projecting their own desires for peace and social justice to leading that change, they will come to understand that conflict is an opportunity for growth and understand their own potential for leadership. This is the essence of Montessori, and can be found in the design of the materials, the prepared environment, and in their actions.

Deeper commitment to education for peace and social justice supports the attainment of basic human rights such as freedom, dignity, safety, equitable treatment, and a standard of living adequate for health and wellbeing.

By creating respectful, inclusive classrooms, celebrating diversity in all its forms, crossing cultural boundaries, and modeling engaged citizenry, Montessori educators nurture students who will transform the world and make it a better place for their generation and the generations that follow.