Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

During the December 14, 2020 Board Meeting, staff shared an update on the district's work in anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion.  You may view our 2020-21 Student Services Year-Long Goals as well.  Following on from this work, community and staff workshops on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are being offered and more information on this is available here.

 Mill Valley School District Student Demographics

We have a diverse community in some ways; we speak 21 languages throughout our district community; we have students with a variety of needs; we are a district made of up many different learners. However, our district is not very ethnically diverse. 

Short-Term Equity Work

• In recent years, equity work has been voluntary.
• Many staff members have participated in Courageous Conversations, including 75 teachers.
• Schools are developing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) groups.
• Some teachers integrating culturally-proficient curriculum and instructional practices.
• Librarians developing special units on the history of voting rights at elementary schools.
• Teachers exploring anti-racist literature for students.
• Teachers completing overhauling units to incorporate anti-racism.
• Group of educators meeting monthly to discuss anti-racist practices, reading Caste, and developing accountability partnerships to examine personal biases and work toward anti-racist teaching practices.

Long-Term Plan

This plan outlines students as the most important constituents of our work. Our goal is to ensure that professional development perpetuates our system of schools that ensures all students have highly-trained staff that has shared understanding. Moving forward, we will be working with Facing History and Ourselves to work toward our goals to impact students directly through their teachers. 

 This work:

• intentionally focuses on schooling
• is an adult learning journey
• is about shifting educator mindsets and practices
• addresses the centrality of race
• provides a foundational learning experience for educators, families, and community to initiate and sustain equity-centered instructional efforts

The Professional Development Model 

Whole schools will engage in a series of trainings called Teaching for Equity and Justice, which consist of 4 consecutive modules that can be done over time or in one 8-hour training.

This work consists of 4 Pillars of Impact: