Diversity and inclusion are cornerstones of the RDS mission statement: "Redwood Day School cultivates a diverse, inclusive community..." Our goal is always to "institutionalize" diversity at RDS, wherever and whenever possible: in our curricular choices, in admissions, in hiring, in professional development, in budgeting for financial aid. Our thinking about diversity as a school has been intentionally broad, including race and ethnicity, socioeconomics, sexual orientation and gender expression, ability, religion, and different ways of learning. As our understanding has deepened, we have come to view these categories as encompassing, but not exclusionary.  

Next year, the School will take an important step towards meeting and supporting students' interpersonal and intrapersonal diversity needs through the creation of voluntary affinity groups in grades 3-5 (every other week, after school) and a diversity club in the Middle School as part of the activities program. In this first year, the groups and the club will be open to students who self-identify as students of color or who share similar experiences and/or interest in racial and cultural backgrounds.  

Affinity Groups

In general terms, affinity groups bring together people who share a common experience to explore the meaning and ramifications of their experience in a workplace or school context. It's a time to get and offer support, as well as to deepen one's own identity, lessening isolation within the larger community. While race is only one of the facets of our understanding of diversity, it remains one of the principal identifiers around which children form identity and through which they experience education in this country. Schools across the country have explored the idea and practice of race-based affinity groups for a number of years now. The premises behind these groups include:

• providing a "majority experience" for students who are regularly in the minority at school
• facilitating positive identity exploration, self- awareness, pride, and increased self-esteem with the assistance of trained adult facilitators
• affirming, protecting, and nurturing the racial and cultural identities of students of color
• enhancing students' social and academic experience

Research & Planning 

Before further explanation of what is planned, let's retrace a bit of school history and recall the deep thinking and work on diversity that has brought us here:                                 

• 2007-08: Francie Kendall, Ph.D. conducted nineteen separate focus groups as part of a comprehensive "climate study" of diversity at RDS.

• 2008-09: With the insights of the climate study work, Kendall and a committed group of faculty and administrators worked together to create the RDS Diversity Strategic Plan, presented to the community in October 2009.

• 2010-11: A Diversity Steering Committee, comprised of four faculty and staff, took on the task of advising the School on operationalizing the Diversity Strategic Plan's recommendations. Early on, the committee focused its work on researching and understanding best practices regarding affinity groups in schools as a way to meet and support the broadest possible range of the Plan's goals and objectives.
  • Fall 2010: Nine faculty and staff attended the NAIS People of Color Conference in San Diego as part of their professional development commitment. Many attended workshops on affinity groups, networked with school leaders who had experience in this area, and followed up with one-on-one conversations. 
  • The group interviewed every RDS employee to solicit input about affinity needs and challenges at RDS.
  • Their research culminated in RDS hosting a one-day workshop on affinity groups in schools in April. Over 30 educators from Bay Area schools gathered to share their experiences, expertise, and questions. The day began with an engaging presentation by Alison Park, founder of Blink Consulting, and ended with a panel of high school students talking about the roles and value of affinity groups in their schools and in their lives.

Moving Ahead 

Shortly after the Diversity Steering Committee made the recommendation to me, in my role as Head of School, to support the creation of race-based affinity groups at RDS, eleven faculty and staff members quickly stepped forward to get the program started. Three faculty members -- Tanna Hall, Leah Aguilera, and Rhonda Smith -- have volunteered to serve as program coordinators next year. Working closely with Assistant Head of School Clarence Perkins, they will plan out the program over the summer and add to their own professional development with training to support them in this new role. 

There are two schools of thought on race-based affinity groups: a) to offer them only for students of color or b) to intend them primarily for students of color with interested and motivated white students also invited to participate. After consulting with many schools across the country, we have decided on the latter approach, as it is more consistent with our mission as a "diverse, inclusive" school. 

To better ensure the success of these groups at RDS, the School will continue working with Alison Park of Blink Consulting to provide in-service training for all faculty and staff during our August Work Week and another in-service day later in the year. We are also working with Prism and the Parents' and Guardians' Association to sponsor an evening early in the fall for Alison to work with parents and guardians to help everyone better understand the importance of affinity groups. Taken in the long view, this another great step by the School to embrace and deepen its commitment to diversity, as well as to the success of every student and every family within our school community. This is our mission statement in practice.