A Letter from Leah and Naomi

Dear Harbor Families,

Our differences enrich us and make our community stronger. It’s a simple sentiment, and one that guides our decisions around community-building, instruction, and collaboration at Harbor. Core to our mission as a small, early childhood school, is to teach students to celebrate the uniquenesses within themselves and in others. These concepts, in turn, underpin our 2024-25 theme of connection.

Our full DEI philosophy statement is below this letter. These words were chosen carefully by our cross-constituent Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee after a yearlong process involving the full community in the 2019-2020 school year. Since then, the Committee  has been the driving force in pursuing specific goals to ensure this mission is alive and in the forefront of our thinking as it relates to people, programs, and practices.

You might wonder what this looks like in an early childhood or early elementary classroom. It is visible in the materials we use, ensuring for example that all types of families are represented in the books we read, or that all skin colors and tones are available in our crayons and markers. In our interdisciplinary thematic units, there is a focus on developing identity and concepts of community, such as our Around the World unit in preschool, the Identity unit in JK, and Social Justice in third grade. 

In their planning, teachers use developmentally appropriate standards of social justice, such as “I know and like who I am” (identity), “I know everyone has feelings, and I want to get along with people who are similar to and different from me” (diversity),  “I know when people are treated unfairly” (justice), and “I will speak up or do something if people are being unfair” (action). These concepts are woven into the curriculum in purposeful ways, and are also reinforced through “teachable moments” throughout the day.

Another important aspect of our commitment to DEI is our intentionality around sharing aspects of family cultures, in authentic ways. We encourage all families to join us in the classroom to share special holidays or celebrations, countries of origin or familial significance, family traditions, or another way to share how your family is unique, throughout the school year. Please connect with your child’s teacher to schedule a classroom visit; we are always happy to have families come in to share aspects of your culture and traditions! In May, the DEI Committee hosts a school-wide celebration of uniqueness in our Celebration of Culture. That morning, students perform songs and dances representing cultures from their classroom, and everyone shares and celebrates our differences!

This publication, which was in your Back to School Night folders, describes our approach to community and belonging, as well as our DEI goals. We are actively seeking new members of the DEI Committee, which meets once a month to strategically plan and monitor our goals. Please let us know if you are interested in joining us! 

Finally, we hope you will join us for our first big community event - a community picnic at Smokey Glen Farm, where you will have the opportunity to connect with other families, enjoy a delicious BBQ meal at Smokey Glen, and participate in family games and events such as a hayride, group games and relay races, and face painting. Please mark your calendars for the afternoon of October 27th and stay tuned for registration for this event! 

Thank you for your engagement and connection, and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Warm regards,

Leah Musico, Head of School, and Co-Chair of the DEI Committee

 
Naomi Senkeeto, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, Co-Chair of the DEI Committee, and Harbor Parent