These student voices highlight the need for a focused emphasis on cultural heritage and identity months, as well the importance of incorporating these stories into our curriculum year-round.

Why is Black History Month important?

"I think Black History Month is so important to have and celebrate. I am white myself, but I will not sit back while Black voices are not heard. I think we should be learning about Black history in general. It is so important to learn more about each other and our history, that way, we can all come together as a whole."

-Ava Kieval, Class of 2026

"I think Black History Month is essential in teaching about racism in the past and helps to better prepare students for the future."

Brooke Pan, Class of 2027

"I feel that a lot of the time white people who work behind the scenes are often highlighted in history where as black people are only every highlighted when they do something that would deem them as 'heroes' like MLK. I would like to know more about the lesser known people that still contributed great ideas to the world but ones that I don't hear repeatedly in school."

Surin Nayak, Class of 2027

"In LPS, I haven't had an official lesson about black history since maybe a few one off lessons in elementary school for MLK. We spend a lot of time on American history in LPS, all the way from 3rd-8th grade. However, most of that time is spent on the American Revolution. I only learned about the reconstruction era and the difficulties and setbacks that came with liberating enslaved people during a research project in 8th grade, where we were told to find and research a topic in American history. The civil rights movement, the reconstruction era, and even more recent events should all be covered and taught at LPS and across the country. Also, even in 3rd grade, students should start learning about the more negative aspects of American History. Not as much as a high school class could conceptualize, but enough that students have a better understanding of America and how our history has shaped our present."

-Leena Dey, Class of 2025

What does Women's History Month mean to you?

"To me it means that women are being rightfully recognized. It is important because it shows that woman can make as much of an impact and sometimes more than men. It is important to learn about this because it can help young women know that they can make that impact, and so they can be inspired by women who lived before them."

-Daisy McLaughlin, Class of 2027

"Being a woman is very important to me. We should be learning about all the woman feminists that have fought for us females to be accepted and valued equally. We also should be learning about female engineers, writers, doctors, etc., and not just white males. I think the school curriculum should not teach female students to hide, or have to learn how to defend themselves. I think we should teach the male students that no means no, and how to respect a women."

-Ava Kieval, Class of 2026

"As a woman, I think it's really important to highlight the stories to women that have been underrepresented within history. It's really important to shine a light on the stories that have been hidden throughout history. We should create a more consistent curriculum that includes stories of underrepresented woman into all of our classes, whether that is underrepresented women in STEM or in historical events."

-Grace Ou, Class of 2023

Why is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month important?

"I haven't learned much about developmental disabilities, but maybe learning about some of the hardships they face or how developmental disabilities change their understanding of the world would help."

-Leena Dey, Class of 2025

"I think that development disability awareness month means bringing awareness to developmental disabilities. It's important to recognize and learn about the lives of people with developmental disabilities and think of ways that we can help them."

-Grace Ou, Class of 2023

Personally, I don't hear any information about developmental disabilities regardless of the circumstances in the Lexington Public Schools. Therefore there are a lot of disabilities that I know nothing about but I definitely should. This leads to me not being empathetic to people with a developmental disability because I have no idea what they are going through. With the help of LPS teachers we can learn not only how developmental disabilities effect daily peoples lives but also how they overcome the obstacles that they bring.

-Surin Nayak, Class of 2027

Staff Shout Outs

"Dr. Zurbrick, who teaches Chemistry at LHS, created a #WomenInChemistry bulletin board in the Science Building that is still up. Additionally, she created a Periodic table of Black Americans in STEM that was displayed but now can be found online here. Dr. Zurbrick has "scientists of the week" where she strives to highlight the accomplishments of scientists with diverse backgrounds and fields of study. She believes in "Science for All," creates a positive class environment for her students, and helps them achieve their collective high expectations."

-Sara Mei, Class of 2022

Mr. Wong, a 6th grade Science teacher at Diamond, deserves a shoutout because although he is a Science teacher, last year in Black History Month he took 10-15 minutes each class to teach us about a Black scientist or engineer that was less commonly known by the public. By doing this, he expanded on my knowledge of Black people that impacted the world for the better.

-Surin Nayak, Class of 2027

The recent hostage crisis in Texas served as yet another example of the need to be vigilant in our fight against antisemitism. Dr. Hackett's communication to the community captured our collective hurt, and this list of resources may help us care for ourselves and one another.

In our schools, Jewish History and Culture, is most specifically covered through the history curriculum as it is directly referenced in the Massachusetts 6-12 history/social science frameworks, which can be found here.

The middle school Social Studies program addresses the historical beginnings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the seventh grade curriculum. Students also learn about Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism in seventh grade. In addition to the historical perspective, teachers use carefully selected current events to discuss with students the contemporary ways that religion impacts daily life. Our educators understand it is essential that they have not only content knowledge but the ability to facilitate difficult conversations and foster civil discourse. In the fall of 2019, all seventh and eighth grade teachers attended a one day training with the staff of Facing History. The teachers participated in activities that they would ultimately use with students, wherein they practiced and reflected upon these thoughtful teaching strategies.

Our 10th grade Modern World History and AP World History classes cover historical antisemitism in Europe as an antecedent to the Holocaust, as well as the Holocaust itself. Issues of antisemitism are also addressed in our US History classes in 11th grade in the context of immigration to the US and urbanization/cities in the US. In addition, LHS offers a Facing History elective that explicitly delves deeply into the Content of antisemitism in the current day as well as historically. Further, any Social Studies teacher of any course may touch on antisemitism in coverage of news, including national, local, and world events, like those that recently occurred in Texas.

Additionally, the English Language Arts Departments at both the middle and high school level continuously review the selection of resources educators use with students to make sure that historically marginalized and underrepresented voices are incorporated into the lessons taught.

As noted in previous communications, we are in the process of updating our official school calendar to ensure it represents our district's core values. Separate from that official school document, we have worked with community members to create this list of cultural and religious observances that matter to our students, staff, and families.

Our community marks this winter season in a variety of ways. Click on the links below to learn more about each observance.

• Yaldã Night

• Christmas

• Kwanzaa

• New Year's Day

• Sankranti

• Pongal

• Lunar New Year

• St. Patrick's Day

• Holi

On Wednesday, January 12, a few dozen LHS students gathered to watch a special screening of Willie, the documentary telling the story of Willie O’Ree, the first Black player in the National Hockey League. The film is produced by Lexington resident and LPS parent Bryant McBride, and LPS will be the first school system in the United States to incorporate the film into its curriculum. After viewing the film, students shared their perspective, with several thanking us for including this important history in what all students learn. Following the feedback session, our superintendent participated in a panel discussion entitled “Hockey’s Social and Emotional Learning Potential” on January 18 as part of the Carnegie Initiative Summit in Boston where she shared our students’ insights and our future plans for the film in Lexington. This is just one example of our efforts to include the histories and contributions of historically marginalized and silenced identities in the education we provide all students.

Along the same lines, the LHS Social Studies Department is exploring offering two new electives: African American History and Asian American History. The department has held several focus groups with students and is actively collaborating with students in the development of these electives. The current hope is that each elective would be open to all students and explore and celebrate the critical historic and current role of each group in our nation.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education InSPIRED Initiative provides monthly BIPOC affinity groups for educators across the state. Read more about the program here. Remaining affinity group dates for the current school year are February 10, March 10, and April 14.

Sign up for more information about the program and affinity groups here!