Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) this year at Palmer Trinity

The first semester saw us deep in the process of redesigning our Mosaic program (PTS’s DEI curriculum) so that it offers more differentiated lessons across the various grade levels, more coherent arcs that build on previous learning, and more space for authentic student expression. Having finalized the 6^th and 9th-grade lessons last year, we’ll be finished with the 7^th and 10th-grade lessons by year’s end. We’ll then focus on developing the 8^th and 11th-grade lessons next year, before developing a high school-to-college DEI curriculum for seniors the year after that. We also redesigned our Mosaic training, so that we might better support the over 70 students who partner with us in doing this work.

 

Even though this work is ongoing, students continue to sit for Mosaic lessons. The first semester lessons were as follows:

Taking six students to the Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) in December was another major undertaking. While Palmer Trinity School has been sending full delegations of students to this NAIS-sponsored conference for over 20 years, this was the first time students have been able to attend in person since COVID. The experience was powerful for our attendees and set us up for some of our school’s upcoming DEI events (see below).

 

More recently, we held our annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Convocation in January, which saw PTS alumnus and federal public defender Jean-Pierre Michael Gilbert address the school on his own efforts to promote social justice, and  Black History Month Convocation sponsored by the Black Student Union which focused on celebrating the African American experience through the arts.