• Curriculum Overview
• After School
• Events and Celebrations
• Service Learning and Partnerships
• Special Assemblies
• Mini Courses

by Sheryl Litwack
Diversity Chair, Board Member, mother of Stephanie (2nd grade) and Benjamin (6th grade)

In January 2004, the Board of Trustees adopted the current Strategic Plan, to be implemented over a five year period. The Plan's diversity goal states that, "The School in Rose Valley believes in multicultural education, celebrating our differences while building communities of inclusion and acceptance. We recognize that diversity has many dimensions including gender, race, class, culture, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age and ability." The plan goes on to state that we "will support a diverse community of students, families and staff through its curriculum, professional development, financial resources and outreach efforts."

As a first action of executing the strategic plan, the board created the diversity committee as a new standing committee, reporting directly back to the board. The committee is comprised of dedicated people, sincere in our desire to support a diverse community here at the school. As part of our work this year, we are polling the community to see how we're doing in that endeavor, and soliciting suggestions for how we can do better. In March, the Parent Community Organization (PCO) and Diversity committees held a joint meeting to kick off that effort. The following is a summary of the issues covered at the meeting, including some of the issues mentioned as important by survey respondents.

• Although many aspects of diversity were discussed, there was an overwhelming feeling that ethnic diversity is the main issue. While some observed that our classrooms appear well integrated at first glance, others found the lack of diversity of color troubling. Some felt SRV was much more diverse in the 60's and 70's than it is now. It was noted that ethnic diversity is not just good for children of color, but important for all of our kids.
• When the question was raised asking what it is like to be a working parent at SRV, the responses included appreciation for all the ways that SRV tries to keep families informed, while also lamenting that working parents sometimes feel at a disadvantage, because many opportunities for connection happen during the school day. It was pointed out that it is always helpful to have as much advance notice as possible for events such as field trips, in order to be able to plan days off.
• We talked about how to we can do better at supporting the population we serve. We need to be accepting and welcoming to families with different sets of values, including honoring differences in political opinions and expressions of faith. We would like not to be afraid to express ourselves, always erring on the side of caution. There was a call for a more school-driven, planned curriculum on religion – without compromising our policy of refraining from religious celebrations.
• Other aspects of diversity mentioned included: blended families; adoptive families; mixed race families; low income families; children with learning disabilities; and gender diversity.

Again, those were the topics that were of interest to the group that came out on the evening of March 12. Now it's your turn to join the conversation. Attached to this FREEP is the same survey that was distributed at the PCO meeting. Please help us by filling it out and getting it back to us as soon as is convenient for you.

We would also like you to know that you are welcome to join the diversity committee at any time to help us to achieve our goals. We invite you to join us to help plan for a more diverse and supportive community. Although we only have one meeting scheduled for the remainder of this year, our efforts are ongoing. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday, May 8 at 7:00pm. If you would like to attend, give me a call or send an email so I can plan seating. If you are unable to attend the meeting for any reason, but would still like to participate, I can meet with you separately and bring you up-to-date on our work.

The staff recently spent time during a Wednesday staff meeting exploring the concept of Intercultural Competence as defined by the Penn PARTNERS program (now the Greater Philadelphia High School Partners Program sponsored by the Center for Greater Philadelphia). Intercultural competence is a term that is gaining traction in the human service fields and is working its way into the realm of education. It is shorthand for a set of common sense social skills that are increasingly important in our multicultural nation–and world. A child's education at The School in Rose Valley would be incomplete without providing experiences and guidance that lead in the direction of intercultural competence. Among other things, intercultural competence includes the ability to: interact and communicate effectively with people from diverse backgrounds; consider and reflect on an issue or topic from multiple perspectives; challenge oneself to "walk in another's shoes"–to feel empathy; develop appreciation and knowledge about one's own cultural identity as well as about people from diverse backgrounds; seek and find out what's on the "inside" of a person, without making pre-judgments based on the person's race, culture or language; and much more. For more information, ask a staff member or speak with Robin, Service and Partnership Learning Coordinator.