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DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION & BELONGING

What is the HPC Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Committee?

The Havens Parents Club Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) committee serves to ensure that all Havens families feel included, valued, and safe; and that families are supported in raising kids who are thoughtful, informed, and brave about race and differences. This group has been created specifically to support the Havens parent community and aims to help bring a DEIB lens to the work of Havens Parent Club, support school and district-level work in this area, and collaborate with other Piedmont schools, with our High School Affinity Mentors, as well as organizations such as the Piedmont Racial Equity Campaign (PREC) and Piedmont Anti-Racism and Diversity Committee (PADC). 

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Background: DEIB Work at Havens and in the District

Preceding the development of this committee, for the past several years Principal Dolid and the school have been investing in ongoing training in restorative practices. This work began seven years ago with the development of the school values - kindness, courage and integrity.  The staff comes together monthly to share best practices and learning on celebrating and lifting up the many identities that make up each of our students. Teachers participate in ongoing professional reading and learning on anti-racist teaching, beginning with the Teaching for Learning Social Justice Standards.

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Beyond this foundation, as we have all experienced in recent years, there is increased awareness in Piedmont and throughout the country of the need to understand, talk about, and address racism in our communities--and also with our young children.  We also know that there are students in Piedmont who are hurting now because of experiences of racism in our schools. (For example, see Instagram account @reportingracismpiedmont.)  District level work reflects this increased awareness and can bring momentum and add to work done at Havens.  As parents, we need to come together to support our kids, each other, our school, and district on this journey.

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HPC DEIB Committee Areas of Focus:

  • Support overall DEIB goals of Principal Dolid and the school, particularly through lens of the parent community audience.  (See “Resources” below for more about what the school and district are doing.)

  • Plan parent education/speaker series to support conversations about race. We piloted a series in 2020 - you can find the links to recordings here:

  • Support other parent and school committees to create inclusive and celebratory experiences for families and students (e.g. events, new family engagement, etc)

  • Examples of our work in 2021-2022: 

    • Provided input into the book fair to include books with diverse protagonists

    • Offered activities for kids at Fall, Winter, and Spring Fests

    • Created a multi-cultural sweet treat sale at the Spring fest inviting families to share treats from their childhoods

    • Held a parent circle to discuss talking to our kids about race

    • Provided material in Havens’ Highlights about talking to kids about race, and learning  and worked with some classroom teachers to bring parents into classrooms to talk about their traditions.   

    • Held DEIB group circles in parallel with work sessions, to create shared understanding and community as a foundation for DEIB work

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How Do I Get Involved?

Want to work on something we are doing, being a DEIB lens to another parent activity, or have another idea?  We welcome and appreciate feedback, ideas and participation!  Please fill out this interest form! You can also reach out to us at havensparentsdei@gmail.com, or connect with one of us individually, if you are interested in getting involved.

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Additional Resources

  • Havens: 

    • Parent circles- Using the tenants of restorative justice, parents receive training and lead regular community building circles, both affinity-based and open to all.

    • Parent Coffees- Principal Dolid holds two opportunities each year to bring together parents in the same grade level in community circles.

    • Teacher trainings- Leveraging teacher leaders there are multiple opportunities each month for teachers to learn and grow in their anti-racist teaching practice. Time is set aside at each staff meeting to engage, as well as in monthly community circles.

    • Affinity Mentorship Program- In 2020 Havens' staff member, Jean Takazawa recognized a need for students of color to have a community of older students and adults who share similar identity markers. The Piedmont Affinity Mentorship Program creates a structure allowing elementary students to build positive identity by connecting High School mentors with similar identity markers. Through Jean's tireless work, this program is available to any student who is looking for identity based mentorship that is not accomplished in other venues.  In 2022, the mentorship program became a class at the high school.

 

 

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Questions? Ideas?

Email us at havensparentsdei@gmail.com

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HPC DEIB Committee Members:

Diana Lee (also liaison for PREC) leediana117@gmail.com

Jean Takazawa (Affinity Mentor Program Coordinator) jeantakazawa@gmail.com

Regina Myers (liaison for PADC) raschaffer@gmail.com 

Christine Chou (liaison for PADC) swcsyc@gmail.com

Sara Johnson Kerrest (communications, circles and general) sarakerrest@gmail.com

Amy Kelly (cultural celebrations, general) amykahnkelly@gmail.com

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