Equity and Inclusion

On October 11, we will honor two important communities; the Indigenous communities in our country on Indigenous Peoples’ Day and those in the LGBTQ+ community, as Monday is also National Coming Out Day.

As we move into Monday and think about the Indigenous communities here in Massachusetts and across the country and the world, I encourage you to learn together with your child about the land on which we live and the ways in which we can honor Indigenous people and their tribal histories. While we want to celebrate local Indigenous communities, it is also important to remember the current and historical struggles of Indigenous people, including stolen land and violent conflicts. Brimmer’s new Director of Middle and Upper School Library, who also supervises our PK–12 library programs, has put together a wonderful list of resources to learn about the significance of this day. You can also visit your town or city’s webpage to learn more about local celebrations and ceremonies near your home. These activities help to support Indigenous communities nearby.

We also honor those in our lives who are part of the LGBTQ+ community with National Coming Out Day, which began officially in 1987. Brimmer is proud to partner with Think Again Training & Consulting this year as we work toward becoming a more inclusive and equitable community. Through faculty and staff trainings this year, we hope to take a more active role in being a place where students and families of all sexualities and gender identities feel a sense of belonging. On Monday, I encourage you to think of ways to support and embrace those in your lives and families who are part of the LGBTQ+ community. LGBTQ+ youth are among the most at-risk populations in the country, and we must work together to be a safe space for all identities. 

We are deeply saddened and angered by the recent and horrific violence in Atlanta that targeted the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community living and working there. This was a deadly reminder of the anti-Asian racism that has skyrocketed in this country over the last year. AAPI individuals have experienced harassment and assaults due to extreme xenophobia, purposeful misinformation, and blatant racism. Our Asian and Asian-American students have reported to us these attacks in and around Boston. These are our students, our children. We stand with our AAPI students, families, faculty, staff, and alumni at Brimmer and the AAPI communities across the country in denouncing this hatred and violence. We will continue to fight against this racism as we work toward becoming a truly anti-racist community. 

For decades, Brimmer has held the belief that our community is strengthened by its racial, geographic, and ethnic diversity. We are proud to represent each neighborhood in Boston as well as a number of countries around the world. However, an increasingly loud and necessary call to action in our country requires us to address and disrupt practices that perpetuate bias and institutional anti-black racism. In order to be a school that truly honors the diversity within its community, we must work harder to create an equitable environment for all and actively teach and practice anti-bias and anti-racism at every level. To that end, we will take a number of action steps to rebuild our diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices to ensure that they are embedded completely in each fiber that holds our school together.

Between the summer of 2020 and the end of the 2020-2021 academic year, Brimmer plans to:

• Create an ongoing DEI Task Force that includes the Director of Equity and Inclusion as well as faculty, staff, and additional members of the Administrative Team, and revamps and restructures DEI committees at the divisional levels to ensure that equity and inclusion work is embedded in each classroom and each part of Brimmer’s programming
• Host a series of open forums for alumni of color, where we will listen to and learn from their experiences and adjust programming accordingly
• Host a series of meetings for faculty and staff of color to share their experiences as employees of the School • Continue to offer affinity groups for families of color and for students of color; student groups may expand in number as needs arise and/or become clearer
• Review our curriculum and identify areas for improvement so that students see themselves reflected in their learning • Actively recruit faculty and staff members who will reflect the diversity within the student body, with particular focus on Black and Latinx faculty
• Require that each faculty member engage in reading about anti-racism before the start of the 2020-2021 academic year
• Put into place an implementation plan for bringing summer reading into faculty practices and teachings throughout the year
• Support the Board of Trustees in its efforts to meet the School’s strategic priorities through trainings, professional development, and regular updates on the above goals

These action steps are the beginning of a new era in Brimmer’s history as an academic institution. We own our part in our country’s responsibility to dismantle the structural racism that has had a tight hold on our communities for hundreds of years. It is our duty to teach our children their country’s true history as it pertains to race and its role in enslaving others for gain so that we graduate young adults who will carry out our mission as ethical leaders in our diverse world. 

Students have the option to participate in clubs and affinity groups including:

• African American/Latino/Multi-racial Affinity Group
• International Students from China Affinity Group
• AAPI Club
• GSA (Gender and Sexuality for All)
• Student Diversity Leadership Club
• Middle School Diversity Lunch Group
• Grade 5 Diversity Lunch Bunch

Topics discussed in our groups may include: celebrations of identity, history lessons, politics, current events, and microaggressions. The make-up and existence of our groups may change year-to-year as we respond to the needs of our community.

Brimmer students help to develop internal diversity programming at the Lower, Middle, and Upper School levels. Off campus, students attend conferences including:

• NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC)
• AISNE Middle School Diversity Conference
• AISNE Middle School Student of Color Conference
• AISNE High School Student of Color Conference

These conferences address topics of race but also cover in depth issues surrounding socio-economic differences, gender identity, and sexual orientation, among other things.

All members of community—staff, families, and students gather each quarter for dinner and a meeting that focuses on the celebration of culture, announcing upcoming events at the School, setting goals for diversity efforts, and exchanging information.

Faculty members attend conferences and workshops through organizations such as AISNE and NAIS that focus on topics including white privilege, representation of diversity in the classroom, and teaching students of color. Faculty members also attend the NAIS People of Color Conference (PoCC) each year.

This includes workshops and professional development training from organizations such as the National Association of Independent School (NAIS); the Association of Independent Schools in New England (AISNE); Bay Area People of Color in Independent Schools (POCIS); the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN); and Visions. The Diversity Director has bi-monthly internal meetings with all the members of the Diversity Council.