The Common, Edition #17

Dear Nashoba Families,

This week I would like to update the community on important work we are doing in our school system to continually improve every day. Steeped in our core values are the ideals we believe all people in our community deserve. Our NRSD Strategic Plan outlines a framework wherein our students not only achieve academically, they grow personally. We want our graduates to become lifelong learners who develop a personal voice, grow to understand how choices have impact beyond intention, and develop a strong sense of agency and responsibility. Those competencies thrive fully in safe, caring, and collaborative environments where a sense of belonging is felt by all. We strive to be an organization that fulfills our vision, “Be your best self. Pave your path. Impact the world.” While we strive every day to be that organization, we know it’s hard out there for many of our students and families.

We have experienced many events locally and nationally that challenge our collective community and have made it hard to foster that sense of belonging for all. Displays of racism, anti-semitism, sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination, and intellectual superiority have impacted members of our community in ways that are deeply personal and that we can only begin to understand. Those moments are intended to hurt people and sow the seeds of mistrust and anxiety in our community and across the nation.

Displays of hate in our community, no matter how seemingly small, impact our children who attend the Nashoba Regional School District. As your Superintendent, I intend to work hard to learn how our families are impacted by these moments and pledge my time and attention to helping us be better as a collective community. It is in that way that I want you all to know the actions I am advancing to better understand the experiences of students and families in our school community

First, our school leaders will reach out to their communities and invite families to come forward and participate in important conversations regarding race, equity, inclusion and belonging. These critical conversations will help us understand the student experience and give us insight into how we can be better. By listening to their stories, we will have greater clarity on our next steps as a school community.

Second, we will seek to have a third party conduct an objective equity audit of the school system. We have posted a request for proposals for a racial equity audit of our school system on the district web site. Click here to view the posting. The DEARJ committee (Diversity, Equity and Racial Justice) has offered to participate in the review of the proposals along with district officials. The purpose of our racial equity audit is to "understand our current place and future role in delivering an educational experience for our Students of Color that understands their perspectives and incorporates their experience in their academic lives." We will also be using our participation in this audit to learn how we can build sustainable practices to examine how we will incorporate the perspectives and experiences of all marginalized groups into our district.

Second, we have formed a district wide equity committee for employees to study how personal identity impacts social norms and expectations. This committee is a volunteer group of faculty and staff who are interested in understanding issues of equity in a deeper way to better understand the role they play in creating a sense of belonging for all.

Third, our leadership team is studying the impact of implicit bias in the hiring, evaluation, and retention of employees who identify with a marginalized group.

Fourth, the DEARJ committee will review the content of our school handbooks and offer recommendations to school administrators for improvements to ensure our practices promote safety and inclusion for our students.

Finally, and most importantly, we believe we will learn the most by hearing about the experiences of our students. Our leadership team will offer opportunities to engage our students and share how they are impacted by expressions of hate and discrimination within our schools.

These efforts will be our next steps in learning about the experiences of the people we serve. Our goal is simple; we want ALL students to feel welcome, appreciated and respected as people within the Nashoba Regional School District. It is clear, when students feel they belong, they learn. This is our mission.

Peace,

Kirk Downing

(He/Him)

“Be your best self. Pave your path. Impact the world.”