Pictured above: First faculty meeting with consultant, Dustin Ward, talking through the content and calendar of what the Equity Assessment will look like at Friends School this year.
To create a sense of belonging, there is work we actively participate in each day. Over the course of our history, Friends School of Portland has made important headway in our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging, and Justice work. We’ve reflected on program, policies, and procedures, and accessed experts like Liza Talusan and White People Confronting Racism for parent workshops and faculty professional development. Retired FSP staff member and grandparent, Linda Ashe-Ford worked within the early childhood development team and brought to fruition a Families of Color Affinity group.
Throughout this journey, we long ago recognized that we would benefit from a more thorough equity audit. While we’ve done internal work, we have come to realize that external facilitation as a next step will help us gather and analyze data that will further help us understand how inclusive we are as a school, how our belonging work feels to all members of our community, and how we are seen in the wider community.
As a predominantly white institution, we have sought out a professional who would bring an outside lens and push us past our habits of mind as we tackle these large questions. We sought a facilitator who is local and understands the nuances of our area; someone with experience leading equity work in schools; and someone who understands and connects with our faith-based values.
With the support of our community’s Strategic Plan, FSP’s board, and a grant from the Obadiah Brown Benevolent Fund, we took steps this summer to begin working with Dustin Ward of It is Time Consulting.
Here is an overview of the shape of the collaborative equity assessment this year:
Stage 1: Discovery
Dustin started his work with us in August by diving into a wealth of information to orient himself to our practices at FSP: a very full Google Drive folder, a tour of FSP, and early meetings with members of faculty and the administrative team. Since then, Dustin joined both a faculty meeting and a board meeting to give an overview of the year and to facilitate conversations around two questions: What is Equity? and Who is our community?
Stage 2: Data Collection
As part of the next stage of the process, over the next five months, Dustin will be gathering information and stories. Dustin plans to lead three different community conversations. One conversation will be with our current and recent school community, in conjunction with our February State of the School. Another conversation will be with organizations and groups we are already connected with. A third conversation will be with community members who are less familiar with FSP but whom we want to be better connected with.
Another portion of Dustin’s data will come through surveys. There will be an online survey that you can expect by late November. Current students will participate in a simple developmentally appropriate survey during a school day (similar to our strategic plan and accreditation surveys). Dustin also plans to be available for small group or individual meetings – both with current students and community members. This will include two days when Dustin is available to students on campus: out at recess, coordinating with classrooms, and being available to hear more about student and faculty experiences. There will be two days for one-on-one meetings with community members interested in speaking with Dustin — we expect that those conversations will be held close to FSP but offsite.
As we move through this stage we are seeking to answer questions such as these:
What is the range of experience of going to or working at FSP?
What would attract students or faculty from various backgrounds?
What would we need to shift to better serve students or faculty from various backgrounds?
How are we seen in the broader community, and does it match how we want to be seen?
Stage 3: Final Recommendations
In the spring, Dustin will synthesize and analyze these layers of gathered information. Faculty, staff, students, families, and board members will have a chance to engage with these recommendations at that time.
We will update our website with various benchmarks of this Equity Assessment journey this year. If you are interested in participating or lending your voice, we hope you will keep your eye out for the survey and reach out for the best way to participate.