Diversity, Equity, Inclusion

At Holy Child, our students are taught to value diversity and become active participants in a global world as "women of conscience and action.” As an educational and spiritual community, Holy Child strives to establish and maintain a culture that welcomes and nurtures individuals from diverse backgrounds and experiences, as we believe this will encourage a respectful and rich intellectual environment. As a school, we actively embrace differences in age, ethnicity, gender, learning style, physical ability, race, religion, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic class. We seek to create a community that reflects diversity in the student body, faculty, and administration. 

At Holy Child, we focus on the big IDEA: Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Advocacy. Our IDEA Committee consists of faculty and students that meet to discuss those four tenants. The goals of the IDEA committee are:

  • To ensure every student feels included

  • To celebrate the various types of diversity within our school community

  • To understand that equality is not enough and that equity ensures that each student has what she needs

  • To advocate for our students and staff that may feel voiceless

These goals support Goal 5 of our Network Schools to create a learning climate based on trust and reverence for the dignity and uniqueness of each person.

IDEA INITIATIVES AT HOLY CHILD

Upper School: Upper School IDEA students participate in a number of affinity groups. These groups work within the School and in the broader community to raise awareness and promote cultural exchange, dialogue, and social justice.

  • Students of Color Affinity Group

  • Mental Health Affinity Group

  • Allies for Antiracism Affinity Group

  • ARC: Allies Rebuilding Connections

Students also participate in events and conferences within the local community and on the national level. SHARE (Students Helping Anyone Respect Everyone) meetings are held four times a year at local independent schools. SHARE meetings allow local groups to connect and learn about promoting respectful conversations within the community. The Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) is a multiracial, multicultural gathering of upper school student leaders (grades 9-12) from across the United States. SDLC focuses on self-reflection, forming allies, and building community.

Middle School:
Our newest initiative is the Middle School Diversity Ambassadors. Middle Schoolers will learn about educating their peers and the rest of the community on inclusion issues.

Faculty:
Our Faculty are committed to attending professional development conferences such as PoCC (People of Color Conference) and White Privilege Conference. We also conduct faculty meetings concerned with issues of civil discourse, teaching "hard history," and developing culturally responsive teaching. These conversations equip our educators with knowledge, skills, and experiences to improve and enhance the interracial, interethnic, and intercultural climate in the School.

Community Conversations:
Community Conversations offer opportunities for students and faculty to view, read, reflect, and discuss topics related to cultural identifiers as a way of implementing diversity initiatives at the School.

Parents:
Holy Child works with RIISE (Resources in Independent School Education) to connect parents of color in independent schools. Their mission is to "build stronger bridges between families of color and independent school culture transforming communities."

Would you like to learn more about IDEA? Contact Director of IDEA Initiatives, Caty Cooper at c.cooper@holychildrye.org or 914-967-5622, extension: 412.

The Director of IDEA supports the School’s mission to create and sustain an inclusive community that ensures all students, faculty, and staff feel supported and valued; the director facilitates Holy Child’s diversity programming and committee work. School of the Holy Child actively recruits faculty, staff, and administration of diversity through participation in diversity recruitment fairs and through its associations with the Independent School Diversity Network (ISDN) and the Fairchester Diversity Practitioners Network (FDPN).