Listening sessions: The DIG held 3 listening sessions moderated by respected diversity consultant Carlos Hoyt in which ~10% of the Brackett community participated either through a survey or by attending the listening sessions
The resulting summary of community experiences around diversity, equity and conclusion were summarized and sent to Brackett administrators, teachers, and the wider parent community
Tables at Cultural night and STEM night: The DIG had a table at each event with posters and educational materials highlighting Diversity in Children’s Literature, How to Talk to Your Children about Race and Women and People of Color in Science.
Invited guests: At each monthly meeting we invited a Brackett community member involved in groups that intersect with diversity, equity and inclusion issues to speak. This has proved fruitful in developing key intersectional relationships that allow us to collaborate instead of duplicating efforts
Guest speakers from the following groups attended: Rainbow Alliance, SEPAC, Brackett math coach, Brackett social worker
E-news and resource distribution: The DIG has provided updates on DIG events and diversity-related resources for parents to be distributed through the biweekly Brackett e-news
DIG website: We created this website which serves as a central repository for diversity-related event information at Brackett and in the wider community, parent and student resources, as well as our information about upcoming meetings
Brackett school goals: The DIG was able to contribute to the school goals and participate in the Brackett school council to provide advice about diversity, equity and inclusion related issues at Brackett
Community events: The Brackett DIG, in collaboration with DIGs at other Arlington elementary schools, collaborated in holding two major events seeking to educate parents about talking about race with their children. Renowned diversity and equity consultant, Liza Talusan, held workshops at Thompson and Brackett in which collectively over 300 parents were in attendance
PTO: The Brackett DIG became a committee of the PTO allowing us to collaborate and gain access to monetary resources for our programming
Donated multi-skin toned bandages in the nurse’s office to be inclusive of a wider array of children’s needs
Coordinated with the librarian and the Library Committee to roll out a Brackett DIG bulletin board for the 2019-2020 school year
During the spring of 2018, a group of passionate Brackett parents and caregivers started meeting with the Brackett principal, Stephanie Zerchykov, to discuss issues of diversity, equity and inclusion for our children at Brackett school. We each came to the conversation with different viewpoints but with a shared commitment to helping support the Brackett teachers and administrators in their goal "To foster and maintain a positive, supportive, and respectful school community where all students' social and emotional needs are met."¹
As our first action, we sought input from the Brackett community to better understand the student and parent experiences as they related to diversity and inclusion. To that end, we held three listening sessions which were open to all Brackett community members. We had about fifty parents participate in the listening sessions and/or survey, representing about 10% of our families. The sessions provided a positive and productive space for parents and some staff to share pieces of their identity, celebrate successes, and envision opportunities for how we can move the Brackett community forward to best meet the social and emotional needs of our student's and their families.
Below are some of the themes that emerged from the sessions. Most of the following items came up in some form, independently, in all three of the sessions. A sincere thank you to Stephanie Zerchykov, for providing us this opportunity to have these conversations.
Educating the community around various diversity issues such as bias
Reinforcing diversity, equity & inclusion as a valued part of the culture at Brackett Elementary
Communication and transparency from the administration
Kids identifying as having a disability being treated poorly in the community
How bullying is addressed at Brackett
Providing an easy repository to track smaller things that don’t feel big enough to “report” in order to recognize patterns
Diversity & inclusion weaved into more day-to-day activities rather than just one event
Lower academic expectation and performance of children of color at Arlington Public Schools
Gender bias
A couple of parents expressed concern that these activities were divisive and should not be a focus of the school
Looking at all of Brackett’s curriculum in collaboration with the administration with a lens towards diversity & inclusion
Empowering & supporting families to do this work in their homes
Taking into account the community input, we developed a mission and charter for the DIG. Simultaneously, DIG groups were developing at other Arlington elementary schools. As of the fall of 2019, all seven elementary schools in Arlington as well as Gibbs/Ottoson and Arlington High School have DIG groups. This enthusiasm from Arlington parents and caregivers speaks to the importance of diversity and inclusion in our school system.
If you would like to get involved in the Brackett DIG, please visit our Sign-up Genius which has lots of one-off project needs or email brackettdig@gmail.com.