Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Asheville Waldorf School’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee is made up of faculty and parents of our community. Anyone who is interested in this work may join.

Mission

We strive to actively address issues of discrimination and inequity in our school community; to dismantle systems of oppression within our school, organized on the basis of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability and/or religious affiliation; to hold our school, as an institution, accountable to the highest standards of equity and inclusion; to always seek ways to better prepare our students to engage in the long fight to end injustice and inequity in the broader world; & to take whatever measures necessary to identify and challenge White Supremacy culture as it manifests in school policy, curriculum, and praxis.

Praxis

Our praxis for achieving our mission is in development; at this time, we have identified three primary objectives: 1) to educate the school’s faculty and staff on the necessity of the work of this committee, generating broad-based support for its work 2) to exhort the school enroll all faculty in anti-oppression trainings, particularly around and relating to racism in Asheville, the opus of Steiner’s writing, and society at large & 3) to recommend changes to school policy and curriculum on the basis of research and dialogue conducted by this committee.

Reporting Discrimination

TheDiversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee is available to receive any reports of discrimination based on the premise of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability and religious affiliation. We can assist in mediating any conflict that a child may experience at school or a parent may experience in the school community. We are also open to hearing any feedback or ideas from the parent body.

Please contact the committee chair : Annie Balagur a.balagur@ashevillewaldorf.org

JUNE 4th, 2020

In Solidarity

Due to recent and ongoing events, we at the Asheville Waldorf School choose to unequivocally reaffirm our mission to strengthen our sense of moral responsibility and actively living out our values which includes empowering our students to act with courage and conviction as we condemn all acts of hate and racism. It also means we need to confront how much work we have to do as a school community. We are in the process of developing concrete action steps to become a safer community for children, families, and educators.

We share in the sorrow, anger, and grief that is felt across our country. We stand in solidarity with the Black community and the Black Lives Matter Movement. We mourn the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade (he/him), and all Black victims of police brutality and white supremacy since the establishment of the police and this country. We recognize that brave activists all across the country are on the frontlines of this movement and we deplore and denounce the police brutality they are encountering daily.

We believe an inclusive and safe community is essential to a complete and whole education. From its beginning, Waldorf education has rooted its foundation in social renewal. As Waldorf educators, we hold the dignity and of life at the center of our work. It is our responsibility to bear witness to what is happening in the world and in our community, to elevate the voices of marginalized people, to change the course of inequities through self-education and continued action, and to break down structural prejudice in all forms where it exists, particularly in Waldorf education, here at Asheville Waldorf School, and in ourselves.

Our Administration as well as our Diversity and Equity Committee are actively seeking ways to keep ourselves as a school trained and informed on issues of racial equality and all areas where equality has yet to be achieved. We see it as pertinent to diversify our curriculum, as well as our teaching staff, and actively strive for an inclusive and safe school culture. We are committed to action and involvement in our own community and participating in the larger movement to strengthen diversity, equity, and inclusion in this country and the world.

Asheville Waldorf School Faculty and Staff