Fostering a Culture of Belonging at Country School

“Country School is dedicated to fostering a culture of belonging for all of its constituents: students, educators and parents,” said Head of School Aaron Cooper.  It was Mr. Cooper’s idea to select Mr. Craft’s 2019 release, New Kid, a story of a student of color attending a predominantly white middle school in Riverdale, NY, for the faculty’s summer book read. “The themes and topics contained in this book reflect the sorts of experiences students can have in schools like ours, and our educators and administrators were ready to join me in the important work of difficult conversations like these.” 

Mr. Craft, father of NCCS alumni, Jaylen ’13 and Aren ’15, was also asked to join the faculty and staff during a Wednesday afternoon professional development workshop, Sept. 29 via Zoom where he shared reflections of his family's time at NCCS and made suggestions for improvement. Jaylen, who made a cameo appearance, also offered his personal experiences to the group. 

At the end of the session, faculty and staff offered reflections on their commitment to fostering a deeper culture of belonging at NCCS and shared ideas as to what that might mean within their individual work environments.

"Conversations around DEI lead to great amounts of introspection and offer the opportunity to identify and work to overcome personal and institutional blindspots.,” said Director Of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Kojo Clarke who together with Head of Early Childhood Education Beth O’Brien, planned alongside Mr. Cooper facilitated the series of professional development events and activities.

 

The school’s Parents’ Association Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Task Force also chose a DEI theme for their summer read, The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together by Heather McGhee, followed by a community conversation and reflection led by Mr. Clarke and the Task Force, on Sept. 21.

Looking ahead, a cohort of six educators and six Upper School students will represent the school at the annual People of Color Conference and The Student Diversity Leadership Conference, to be held virtually, Nov. 29 to Dec. 3. Organized by the National Association of Independent Schools, PoCC is a space to support educators of color and white allies in independent schools, while SDLC fosters belonging by focusing on self-reflecting, forming allies, and building community among students.  

“Participants find ways that are meaningful to themselves and to the institution to bring their learning back from PoCC and SDLC, and those insights contribute to our work in building community and a sense of belonging,” said Mr. Clarke.