The 4 Climate Values

By that we mean:

Being valued and respected for who you are and showing others that you value and respect them

Being welcomed, honored, and celebrated in all of our spaces

Acknowledging, challenging, and interrupting biases

Celebrating and accepting the cultural diversity and talents of all of our students, families, and staff

In the Classroom, "Equity, Representation, and Anti-Racism" means:

  • Having students see themselves in what they’re taught

  • Knowing students for their strengths

  • Believing all students can meet high academic rigor with the right level of support

  • Confronting and interrupting our own biases about others

In our Staffing Decisions, "Equity, Representation, and Anti-Racism" means:

  • Recruiting and retaining staff who are committed to equity and anti-racism

  • Valuing and respecting the entire identity and lived experiences of all staff.

  • MPS staff authentically relate to students, families, and each other culturally, emotionally, and mentally.

In our Family and Community Engagement "Equity, Representation, and Anti-Racism" means:

  • Valuing and celebrating the diversity of lived experiences present in our MPS community

  • Showing and making sure all families feel they belong in MPS

In our Buildings, "Equity, Representation, and Anti-Racism" means:

  • Acknowledging and honoring that our buildings are on Dakota homelands

  • Creating spaces that visually represent our students and families

  • Designing buildings with spaces that accomodate the needs of our diverse community

  • Making sure physical security systems and practices interrupt long standing racial inequities

By that we mean:

Supporting physical, social, and emotional, wellbeing

Meeting the needs of each individual, family, and community

Nurturing students’ strengths and interests as they come

Being a place of joy that welcomes and supports growth and learning

Practicing different ways of healing and restoring relationships

In the Classroom, "Physical and Emotional Safety & Wellbeing" means:

  • Making sure that all students feel safe to express their various identities and academic and social needs

  • Striving for academic and social inclusion of all students

In our Staffing Decisions, "Physical and Emotional Safety & Wellbeing" means:

  • Prioritizing the need for every staff member to be heard and seen in a safe environment, free from retaliation

In our Family and Community Engagement, "Physical and Emotional Safety & Wellbeing" means:

  • Creating a safe environment so that all families can participate

  • Making sure that all families are actively invited to participate in engagement opportunities that are relevant to them

  • Removing barriers to families’ meaningful engagement

In our Buildings, "Physical and Emotional Safety & Wellbeing" means:

  • Making sure members of our community feel safe within all MPS buildings

  • Making sure all MPS buildings are cleaned and maintained to a high standard

  • Making sure all MPS buildings can support social and academic learning

By that we mean:

Building positive relationships between students, families, and staff

Creating conditions for students, families, and staff to speak up when they feel wronged and ensuring that they’re heard and are part of a process of reconciliation and repair

Providing multiple avenues for transparent communication

In our Classrooms, "Relationships, Trust & Communication" means:

  • Building relationships based on respect, trust, and care between students and adults

  • Seeing that adults are working to make things better for students

  • Giving students useful feedback on their learning

  • Co-creating learning with students, families, and the community

  • Promoting open communication between teachers, students, and families

In our Staffing Decisions, "Relationships, Trust & Communication" means:

  • Prioritizing the need for every staff member to see, know, and experience their culture and traditions being honored in their workplace.

  • Providing every staff member with access to effective leadership, and timely, consistent, and equitable coaching and feedback practices that help them grow professionally.

  • Establishing and honoring commitments

In our Family and Community Engagement, "Relationships, Trust & Communication" means:

  • Taking action that shows the community that leadership is listening and taking responsibility

  • Partnering with families in ways that respect and honor their culture

  • Developing authentic relationships between families and school staff that helps to strengthen the school-home connection

  • Asking families for input about their student’s strengths and needs at all levels (classroom, school, and district)

  • Sharing consistent, positive, and transparent communication about students with families

In our Buildings, "Relationships, Trust & Communication" means:

  • Making sure building structures and systems foster safety and positive relationships

By that we mean:

Creating spaces for students, families, and staff to feel heard and understood without judgement

Involving historically marginalized and underrepresented students, families, and staff in decisions that impact them

In our Classrooms, "Shared Decision Making & Voice" means:

  • Having student voice heard and valued

  • Allowing students to give input in their own learning

  • Allowing regular opportunities for student and family feedback about learning and instruction

In our Staffing Decisions, "Shared Decision Making & Voice" means:

  • Listening and incorporating ideas, thoughts, and perspectives of staff, and responding to their needs

  • Empowering staff at all levels by inviting their expertise and skills into shared decision-making processes

In our Family and Community Engagement, "Shared Decision Making & Voice" means:

  • Making sure that students, families, and staff can participate and share in decisions that affect the student’s well-being and educational experience

  • Creating clear, accessible and culturally-reflective processes and structures for decision-making

  • Providing regular up-to-date information about decisions, so families can hold their schools and district accountable

In our Buildings, "Shared Decision Making & Voice" means:

  • Sharing responsibility to take care of the space among all community members

  • Empowering youth to have ownership over the space designed to serve them

  • Collaboratively problem solving so that the space feels safe, and reflects community needs and values