Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Severn

List of 3 items.

• Near-Term Actions

  Action: Create a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Team as a subcommittee of the Board, composed of Trustees, Admin, faculty, parents, and alumni that will critically examine our policies, practices and processes, recommend changes and develop goals and success metrics.

   

  Progress:

  • A Board Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion subcommittee has been established and populated, thus far, with Board members, administration and faculty. In the coming weeks, the DEI Committee will define its purpose, goals, and work on its vision. Once established, the Committee will design a framework and process for which to identify potential parents and alumni to add to the Committee.  
  • Additionally, a school DEI committee has been created composed of faculty and staff and chaired by the DEI Director to focus on the day to day DEI matters.
    
    

  Action: Hire a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director who will serve as a contributing member of the Executive Admin team and ex-officio member of the Board of Trustees. The DEI Director will report to the Head of School and Chair, DEI Board subcommittee.

   

  Progress:

  • Michael Glasby has been hired as the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and will be a member of the Executive Administrative Team.
    
    

  Action: Clearly communicate ways for students to report racist and/or discriminatory incidents and make the disciplinary process specific, actionable and age appropriate.

   

  Progress:

  • All division handbooks have been updated to include specific sections on hate speech and discriminatory incidents with age appropriate and specific disciplinary process spelled out.

   

  Action: Establish and promote affinity groups to enhance students’ care and support and to better educate the entire community.

   

  Progress:

  • Initial steps have been taken to establish a Black Parent Network through Severn’s Parent Liaison and the Director of Development.
  • Initial steps have been taken to establish a Black Alumni Network through Severn’s Director of Alumni Relations and the Director of Development.
  • Student affinity groups will begin meeting at the beginning of the school year.

  
  Action: Permanently change the title of Headmaster to Head of School in Severn School’s documents of incorporation.

   

  Progress:

  • All correspondences generated from the Head of School’s office have been changed and official action will be taken to permanently change the School’s Bylaws and other official documentation at the first scheduled Board meeting of the year, Friday, September 11, 2020.

  
  Action: Allocate additional resources to train Board of Trustees, faculty and staff in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work, to include implicit bias and cultural competencies. 

   

  Progress:

  • Lawrence Alexander will conduct training for faculty and staff that will take place during our opening meetings in late August and will continue periodically throughout the year.
  • Lawrence Alexander will conduct training for the Board and leadership team, which has been scheduled for early September and will continue periodically throughout the year.

   

  Action: Allocate additional resources to expand Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programming for students, including a systemic review of the preschool through grade 12 curriculum. 

   

  Progress:

  
  

  • • Additional funds have been allocated and will be used throughout the year to provide additional DEI programming in all three divisions. As specific programming takes place, it will be added to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion webpage.
    • Severn has engaged Pollyanna Inc. (https://pollyannainc.org/) to help conduct curriculum review and help develop racial literacy curriculum for grades PS – 8.
    • In the Upper School, work began this summer, primarily in the humanities, to review course sequencing and content.

• Longer-term and Ongoing Actions

  • Increase Severn’s student diversity by identifying admission strategies that will improve outreach to students of color, and with a focus on increasing Black student enrollment. 

  • Increase racial diversity of Severn’s Board, administration and faculty through an examination of our processes to identify success and failures, and using that information to inform an intentional strategy to recruit, support and retain minority candidates. 

  • Expand the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion goals and initiatives in the current strategic planning process, incorporate metrics and report on our process, to ensure actions are sustained.

• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Board Committee

  Shaun Mathis – Chair
  Katie Leavy – Co-Chair
  Charles Belo
  Robyn Formica ‘87
  Stephanie Jacobs
  Elsa Maskell
  Eric Veiel