Date: Monday, April 23, 2008
Location: Yarnall Hall, Conference Room

Present: Sarita Winter, Kathy Bittinger, Peggy Moore, Deveonne Hamilton-Stokes, Barbara Gaffigan, Nancy Adise, Sydney Jacobs, Beth Craddock, Kathleen McKay. SSFS: Karl Gedge, Linda Cooper, Louise Steinfort

Introductions were made and the presentation from our Admissions team swiftly came underway. Karl Gedge advised our committee that they were looking from support from all parents from all avenues and appreciated the opportunity to come speak and share ideas with our committee. Some interesting facts shared with us:

• The applicant pool has shrunk at SSFS as it has with all independent schools.

• We are seeing fewer applications this year compared to 5 years ago.

• SSFS attrition rate is low compared to our competitor schools. Per AIMS, a number under 10% is considered good, if over 12% then there is a problem, SSFS is at 6%.

• Our biggest challenge is to build a qualified applicant pool, again as is the challenge for other independent schools.

• Karl shared with us some stats on minority enrollment. SSFS has a relatively high % at 34.69% for the 2008-2009 school year. Our numbers have consistently been above 30% over many years. Specific breakouts by race and for faculty can be found on the schools website. For total % breakdown by grade please notify PADC clerks and we can email you those stats.

• Financial aid is being increased in order to help our families globally across the board for those who qualify.

Linda Cooper, from LS Admissions shared with us how parents currently help the school's recruitment efforts and areas where Admissions would like our support.

How parents help our recruitment efforts currently:

• By sharing their personal SSFS experiences with prospective families at the Black Student Fund Fair.

• By answering questions from the parent's perspective on school day admissions tours and at open house.

• By agreeing to be a referral family that can be contacted by prospective families who don't know anyone currently enrolled at SSFS.

• By greeting newly enrolled families at each division's special welcoming event.

• By serving as a welcoming or first friend family to a family new to our community.

• By functioning as a guardian or host family for an international student.

How parents help our recruitment efforts in the future:

• By suggesting specialized local publications to extend our advertising outreach to specific minority groups.

• By serving as a contact to a specific religious or civic group that the parent is affiliated with in order to facilitate our outreach to the other members of such organizations.

• By hosting a neighborhood coffee in their homes.

SSFS is currently interviewing outside agencies with expertise in guiding schools through an institutional identification process. The goal is to have more identified and targeted marketing material by next Fall which will aid the school in attracting a diverse student body.

New Business: Sarita announced that the PA is accepting nominations for clerk(s) for the PA Diversity Committee (PADC) for the 2008-2009 school year. Sydney and Sarita have both served 2 years as co-clerks and will be rotating off at the end of this school year. Sydney informed the group that at the last All School Diversity Meeting, there had been discussion about shifting the role of that committee to become more all inclusive of events and activities relating to diversity on campus. That being the case and if we are unable to attain new clerks for next year, then we will consider asking the PA to allow the PADC to be laid down for a year but to select 2-4 parents interested in working on diversity related issues to sit on the All School Diversity Committee for next year. This will be discussed further and decided upon at our last PADC meeting in May.

Our next meeting will be held in the evening from 7-8 pm on Thursday, May 15th in the Yarnall Hall Conference room. Please mark your calendars to join us.

Date: Monday, October 22, 2007
Location: Yarnall Hall, PA Office

Present: Sarita Winter, Barbara Gaffigan, Sydney Jacobs, Peggy Moore

Final Review of PADC Action Plan: Reviewed draft of this year's Action Plan along with comments sent in from other committee members not present at last month's meeting. No changes were suggested to the draft so we will move forward presenting the draft as our final set of goals for this year. A copy is attached to these minutes and a copy will be given to the All School Diversity Committee once all members are assigned to an action item. All PADC members are asked to review the goals and select at least one action item they would like to work on this school year. Please email back your selection(s) to Sarita by Nov. 16th so we can finalize the plan and post to our website. (note the highlighted areas on the attached action plan indicates the names of members assigned to certain goals, it is important that we have all committee members assigned to at least one goal to help share the responsibilities and move our plan forward. Many items do not require regular attendance at PADC meetings to work on and can be done on your own time. If your name is listed on a specific goal but you prefer to work on a different one this year, just let me know.)

Updates on goals:

• Alkia emailed in a report stating that she is working with Ken Smith on scheduling a diversity speaker to come to SSFS. More to follow but it is actively in the works. Barbara G. also reported that she is currently working with the PA clerks to schedule a date for an economic diversity program to be presented by Jen Cort. This program will be sponsored by our diversity committee.

• The PADC is co-sponsoring with the Community Service committee the following events: November 17th, the Fannie Mae Walk for the Homeless. Volunteer walkers needed to help raise money for the homeless in our area. Barbara is still in need of a Middle School parent liaison for the walk. If you are interested or know someone who is interested, please contact Barbara larbarb@comcast.net. Also, Caring with Casseroles is an ongoing program that asks for SSFS volunteer families to make a casserole (recipes and pans provided) which we in turn will provide to a local shelter to help feed the hungry in our local area. Flyers on both programs are attached. Please be sure to provide support for these programs if you can by participating yourselves with your family or by helping to spread the word to others you know who might want to take part.

All School Diversity Committee (ASDC) Meeting: Sydney, Sarita and Barbara attended the ASDC meeting in September. This year, the Middle School is actively moving forward with several active diversity programs for our middle schoolers. Lauren Keller, MS Counselor reported about various activities in the works. For more details on Middle School Diversity happenings, you can check read their minutes online at: http://www.ssfs.org/diversity/middle_div/reports.htm

It was also shared that the school has asked the ASDC for our input on which days should be selected as "days off" from school. The first question on everyone's mind was, "how does SSFS determine what days to give off now?" We will address this question at the next ASDC meeting on November 19th and give our input accordingly. If any committee member has any questions or comments they'd like us to take to the ASDC regarding days off from school, please email to Sydney or Sarita before 11/19.

Movie Advocacy Series Update: Sydney reported that the next Upper School Advocacy Series Movie will be on November 8th and it will be "WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price" an expose of policies and practices of giant retailer, Wal-Mart. An US student who stopped by our meeting and who is heading up the movie series was asked if they want us to help promote their movie series among the parent population or if they preferred to limit it to students only. Her initial thought was parents would be welcomed, but first wanted to check it out with the other students working on this project to assure they were all in agreement. If so, we will begin to help to promote the series among parents through our PA Diversity Committee. Sydney will follow up with her before our next meeting. The following is information we currently have about the US Advocacy Film Series:

• November 8: Wal-Mart, the High Cost of Low Price. Participants asked to bring 2 items of clothing for a thrift store
• January 10: Hairspray starring John Travolta. Middle school students invited
• February 7: Bowling for Columbine
• April 10: Amazing Grace and Chuck starring Jamie Lee Curtis. Middle school students invited

Time: 5:15-5:45 p.m. pizza for sale in the cafeteria; 6:00 p.m. Film shown in Clifton and snacks for sale. Suggested movie donation: $3

New Business: Sarita had suggested that if any committee member happens to come across a good theatre production or program in the local community (for children or adults) that pertain to diversity issues, to please share with the committee so we can possibility sponsor a "group" gathering to go see the production together with other SSFS families interested. The idea had come up when she came across a show at the Imagination Stage (last year) called, The New Kid By Dennis Foon which she thought would have been great to go see as a group with other LS children. Keep your eyes open and please share with the committee any productions you may come across that you think might be interesting to share with our SSFS community.

Our next meeting will be held in the evening from 7-8 pm on Wednesday November 28th. Please mark your calendars to join us if you can - location to follow. We are rotating the PADC meeting times this year in hopes to accommodate more committee member's schedules.

Date: Friday, September 28, 2007

Present: Sarita Winter, Barbara Gaffigan, Sydney Jacobs, Kathy Bittinger

Reviewed last year's Action Plan and spent most of meeting formulating action plans for 2007-2008. Here is a brief summary of that discussion:

• Mission statement is completed, but the PADC part of the website is an ongoing project. Sarita suggested that it would be better with photos and more information. Had conversation about who should receive updated info, photos, etc for posting on the website. (Margaret Malone Rosser).

• Decided to continue goal for identifying and sponsoring a diversity speaker for the Parent community. We also wish to continue to find ways to work with US student clubs and activities. This year, the Community Service teacher, Alison Baker is working with a group of students who are doing an Advocacy Film Series on 5 Thursday evenings this year. Sydney will contact Alison to ask how the PADC might help make this a successful effort, and to help promote it throughout the parent community. Because it is a school night, Barbara suggested asking Alison about asking for "Homework Amnesty" for students who wish to attend. Because this series is in place, Sydney said that a separate Movie Salon Night (as we did last year) might conflict with it. Finally, there was a lot of interest in sponsoring a workshop for parents on socioeconomic diversity, possibly developed from a workshop given to LS faculty by Jen Cort. Barb Gaffigan will follow up on this with the PA.

• We decided that working for a Parent SEED program at SSFS would not be an immediate goal for this year's plan; the commitment to run such a program is very high and the interest is not really there right now. It was suggested that if parents attended the Advocacy movie series and we (PADC) could hold discussions about the films afterwards; that this could be a step towards determining parent interest in parent SEED program in the future.

• Decided to retain the goal of providing support to SSFS administration for recruitment and retention of a diverse student body. We discussed the potential relationship of retaining minority students with having exclusive parent identity groups; also how to recruit volunteer parents to attend student recruitment fairs.

• New goals for 07/08:

  • Integrating the now defunct World Friends Committee into the PADC. This would include providing support to the ISP on campus by identifying ways to better include international students into the greater SSFS community and helping to identify HOST families for ISP students.

  • Great interest in developing a plan to work with SSFS's Operations Department for reviewing Physical Access of the school.

• A draft of new PADC action plan will be sent out to all committee members via email before the next meeting for review and comments.

• This year we will try to rotate the PADC meeting times to better accommodate more committee member's schedules. The next PADC meeting will be Monday, October 22 at 2 p.m. in the PA office.

Date: Monday, May 21, 2007

Present: Sarita Winter, Barbara Gaffigan, Sydney Jacobs, Pat Rodriguez, Nancy Adise, Kathleen McKay

Karl Gedge, Assistant Head of External Relations, Guest speaker

Karl graciously accepted our committee's invitation to attend our last meeting of the year and give us his view of diversity issues at SSFS. He began by telling us where he worked before coming to Sandy Spring. He originally started in the corporate world in Chicago, and then worked for Lake Forest Academy for 17 years (his alma mater) in several positions. He saw it go through significant changes, going from an all white, privileged, male enclave to a co-ed, racially and socio-economically diverse school. His experience taught him that there are many complex dynamics to diversity that are sometimes difficult for all to understand; also that while it may seem that racial barriers can never be completely eliminated, it is important to continually work towards that goal.

Karl has two main aspects to his job at Sandy Spring: Financial development and public relations for the school. Since his arrival at SSFS, he has conversed with and interviewed trustees, faculty and staff, parents, alumni parents and alumni and has discovered three common threads:

• That there is a very high level of commitment to the school within all of the communities

• SSFS is in the ideal range of Quaker education (the teachings of Quaker religion is not overbearing, but the philosophy within Quaker education is evident in a positive manner)

• The level of respect people have for each other within the SSFS community is very impressive, unlike what he has seen in other schools

Karl feels that SSFS is at a stage where more subtle changes are at hand re: diversity. He believes that the parent community is a resource for improving enrollment diversity; parents can identify potential new families and help "sell" the school in a very personal way. Financial aid not only needs to be increased, but the process has to be more transparent. He said families need to know during the admissions process (not after being admitted to the school) if/how much they can receive in financial aid. Karl said the school has a plan in place to improve the percent of financial aid, and that we plan to take better advantage of philanthropic opportunities.

Finally Karl spoke about the PR part of his job: he told us that a group has formed to articulate to the world who we are. What is our "brand" and how do we effectively communicate what actually goes on at this school? He feels we should have a much higher profile in the community at large and "advertise" our activities and accomplishments. Opening our campus more and using our faculty as an outreach tool are just two great ideas he mentioned to us.

Several members present addressed questions to Karl and we offered to help and assist in any opportunities regarding diversity at SSFS. Karl is working on plans now and will be back in touch either in the summer or early part of next year to begin collaboration with our committee.

Lower School Rain Boot Exchange

The lower school would like to collect rain boots and offer them for redistribution in the Fall as a way to lessen the financial burden of purchasing new ones every year for our families. The Diversity committee was asked if we could take over this project for the LS. Storage for the boots has been confirmed but they need to be cleaned over the summer and people are needed to help with their distribution the Friday before school begins. Sydney suggested that this project be advertised as a way to recycle/reuse the boots and ALL families should be encouraged to use pre-owned boots.

She also said that perhaps students from the upper school might be willing to clean them for stewardship credit. She will contact Alison Baker, the upper school community service coordinator; Sarita will work with the LS staff to collect the boots in the next two weeks. Volunteers from the diversity committee and PA will be solicited. Kathleen McKay and Nancy Adise, PA clerks, agreed with our recommendation that we promote this as a PA sponsored event.

Diversity Committee budget approved by PA

Sarita reported that our request for $1000 to cover a diversity speaker and $300 for refreshments for 07/08 school year was approved.

New Business

We didn't have time to start setting goals and action plans for next year; committee members are encouraged to think about projects/ideas they would like to work on for 2007/08 and be ready to present them at our first meeting in September.

Sarita was selected to attend the Georgetown Day School Equity Collaborative in July as an SSFS representative. The seminar is 4 days of teachings and learning about multicultural issues within independent schools. Due to this opportunity to represent the school, she announced that she will continue co-clerking the Diversity committee next year so she can better share with the community what she learns at the seminar. (To date no other volunteers to co-clerk the committee had come forth.)

Date: Monday, April 23, 2007

Present: Sarita Winter, Barbara Gaffigan, Sydney Jacobs, Peggy Moore

All School Diversity Meeting of April 9, 2007:

Sydney and Sarita represented the PADC at this meeting. Two main topics were discussed:

• The Gay/Straight Alliance (an upper school student group) is requesting that gender expression and gender identity language be included in the school's non-discrimination policy. The implications (both real and perceived) were discussed. It was agreed that while inclusion of this language seems to be a positive move, more time was needed to study and better educate ourselves on the subject matter. A list of items that the school can currently work on while in the review phase was discussed and it was agreed that the GSA and the school should begin working on some of these items.

• An incident in the middle school has illustrated the need for continuous vigilance on issues of diversity. Discussion centered on the importance of keeping the conversation about these matters a central focus at the school. The middle school did an excellent job of addressing the situation.

• After many years as clerk of the All School Diversity Committee, Eduardo Polon is stepping down to move on to other opportunities at the school. Clare MacKenzie, an English teacher in the upper school will be the new committee clerk.

07-08 Budget for Next Year

Sarita reported that the PA has a pool of funds for use by its committees; committees can request funding but will be reviewed by PA on a first come basis. Sarita has already talked with the PA clerk about allocating funding for our Quaker Diversity speaker for next year ($1000). There is a refreshment fund that we may be able to draw on to provide food for attendees to committee events such as Movie Night and lectures. We discussed the request from a student group for refreshment money - this will be up to the PA as to whether or not they allow, but those present agreed that if money were given to any group for refreshments it would be to serve free to attendees of events, not to sell the refreshments as a fundraiser. The actual fundraising of money should come from efforts solely from students. Student organizations need to know they can come to the PADC for assistance in "organizing" their diversity related events. Sydney will contact Karen Cumberbatch about attending the US Clubs Open House at the beginning of the school year to let them know they can work with us.

Sarita is drawing up a budget request for our committee to submit to the PA that will include travel and fees for a diversity speaker, stipend and refreshments to present a pilot SEED parent program and refreshments for other as yet undetermined events.

Mission/Vision Statement:

The final revised mission statement is being presented to the PA executive committee for approval this month. We hope to have final approval before the end of the school year.

Movie Salon Night:

Between 25 and 30 people came to the PAC to see the film, Crash on April 6. Twenty stayed for the post-film discussion. It was a successful event that would be worth doing again. Sydney advised the committee that that Alison Baker (art teacher, upper school) has several dates in 07-08 set aside for an after-school advocacy film series. Sydney will meeting with her to find out how we can work together.

Status of Current Year Action Plans

Nearly all of our committee objectives have been met. Discussion about starting action plans for 07-08, and renewing ongoing goals. It was decided that we should notify all divisions to advise them that we are working on our plan for next year and want suggestions from them. Sarita will go to the LS, Barbara to the MS, and Sydney to the US to get this started. Our last meeting in May will have a good portion devoted to working on 2007-08 action items for next year.

For action item 1b, it was suggested to add photos and committee clerk names to website. For action item 3b (meet with Admissions and Board of Trustees committee) - it was suggested we meet with Karl Gedge at next PA diversity group meeting to share our ideas and hear from him how to develop a working relationship with him.

New co-clerk needed

Sarita Winter is the new lower school rep for next year, so she would like to find another person to co-clerk this committee with Sydney. If there is anyone interested in co-clerking for next year, please let her know ASAP.

Proposal to Merge World Friends Committee with Diversity Committee

Barbara reported on the many diversity issues relevant to the international students at SSFS. She is recommending that we merge the World Friends Committee and integrate its goals into the diversity committee. All members present agreed it made sense to merge the two committees and that the ISP portion would have a goal assigned to it for next year with 3 or 4 action items under that goal. Barb will talk with Bim to firm up those action items but an initial draft of items we discussed were:

• Support the International Student Program (ISP) potluck dinners
• Assist ISP in finding host families for ISP students
• Assist ISP in promoting a more inclusive environment for the international students

Barbara would continue to be the contact person to Bim Schauffler, the ISP coordinator.

Our next PA Diversity Meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 21, 2007

*Karl Gedge, Assistant Head of School for External Relations will be our Guest Speaker at the beginning of our meeting.

Co-Clerks Meeting with Ken Smith:

All School Diversity Meeting:

PA Finance Committee Report:

Mission/Vision Statement:

Report on meeting with Sidwell Friends Diversity Coordinator:

Diversity Speaker for 2007:

Update on showing CRASH:

Report on meeting with Norwood re: SEED program

Present: Barbara Gaffigan, Susan Gordon, Eileen Hollander, Sydney Jacobs, Tyra Lundy and Sarita Winter

Summary Review of December All School Diversity Meeting:
Sydney Jacobs and Barbara Gaffigan provided committee members with a review of topics covered at the December All School Diversity Meeting. Sydney spoke at the meeting and introduced our new direction and provided a draft of our action plan. The consensus was that our new direction of goals and action plan was received well. Sydney also had provided a summary of the All School Diversity meeting via an email to all committee members last month, but a few highlights we discussed are listed below:

• A small Upper School (US) student delegation along with faculty advisors participated in a Student Diversity Leadership Conference in Seattle. It was discussed that a follow-up of this conference along with a summary or plan of some kind would be beneficial to have to better understand how this conference experience and the student learnings from this conference will be shared with the greater SSFS community. Sydney was assigned as our committee's liaison to the US to learn more about what the students from the SDLC will be doing reference follow-up and also had already talked to some of the students who attended that expressed great interest in working with our PA Diversity Committee to help promote some of their projects throughout the school community. Our goals are to offer and provide support to these students in their efforts as leaders on campus to expand diversity awareness.

• Discussed a handout on hiring guidelines distributed by US's David Hickson. Tyra mentioned that there were a few job openings in US and it was agreed that this would be a good time to notify the heads of the various divisions of our offer to support their staff diversity recruitment efforts. Our committee's goal is to provide support by attending staff recruitment fairs as needed, sending out job opening opportunities to our diverse network circles or offer support in any other ways. Tyra will work on this as part of our committee's Goal 3 and will draft the letter for our approval prior to sending out.

• Along the same lines, it was agreed by all present that our PA Diversity Committee co-clerks, Sydney and Sarita should meet with Ken simply to share our new direction and emphasize our desire to provide support throughout the school community on diversity efforts where appropriate. Sarita will coordinate a meeting time in January.

Review of Objectives and Goals:

• An opportunity for our committee to make changes to our action plan was addressed and a few minor revisions were made. A final version of our action plans are attached and will be posted to our website.

• Task/Action Plan update:
  Goal 1: Implementation date to revise our mission/vision statements has been moved to February. Minutes of our meetings are now being uploaded to website on a regular basis.
  Goal 2a: Tyra advised that she and Alkia had discussed getting Vanessa Juyles as a speaker for the school. Ms. Juyles is a professional speaker who has dedicated her life's work to teaching Quaker communities about diversity and inclusion. The committee was very interested and recommended that they move forward on scheduling Ms. Juyles as a speaker for our parents and students. Tyra will contact Marla and the PA clerks to coordinate.
  Goal 2b: Sydney has already made contact with US students and shared that there is great interest among the students to carry out this movie night. Due to "Crash" being rated R, it was agreed that the invitation would be offered to SSFS parents but only US students.
  Goal 2c: Peggy and Sarita to provide information at next meeting.
  Goal 3a: Tyra will be drafting letter to head of three divisions extending our offer to support their recruitment efforts of a more diverse faculty.
  Goal 3b: Pat (via email) updated us that she and Peggy made contact with the Director of Admissions and brainstormed about activities our committee could participate in to increase student diversity and retention at SSFS. Further information on their work will be shared with our committee via email or at the next meeting.
  Goal 4a: The following committee members were assigned to make contact with the diversity committees at the three divisions: US-Sydney Jacobs; MS-Barbara Gaffigan and Susan Gordon and LS-Sarita Winter.

New Business:
Barbara Gaffigan introduced the idea for discussion and consideration that the Worlds Friends Committee be merged into our PA Diversity Committee. Barbara informed us that there has not been as much interest and participation from the foreign exchange parents and guardians and that as clerk of that committee, she'd like to discuss if there may be a way for our two committees to merge in order to generate more participation at certain events. This issue will be added as an agenda item to discuss at our next meeting.

Next PA Diversity Meeting scheduled for Monday, February 12, 2007

2006-2007 School Year PA Diversity Committee Action Plan

The SSFS PA committee will establish a set of objectives and goals that will develop diversity outreach opportunities within and outside the SSFS community and revisit our mission and vision statements to assure our message is current and up to date.

Objectives:

• Review current mission and vision statement of the SSFS PA Diversity committee to assure it is reflective of our current objectives and goals.
  
  GOAL 1a - Update mission and vision if applicable and submit to Parents Association for approval. (February 2007) [Alkia, Tyra, Sarita, Sydney]
  
  GOAL 1b - Review PA Diversity Website and update as applicable. (Ongoing) [Alkia, Tyra, Sarita, Sydney]

• Develop opportunities for SSFS community to participate in diversity events on campus.
  
  GOAL 2a - Identify potential speakers and set at least 1 date for presentation to the SSFS Parent community on a various diversity issues. Work with PA to identify any potential dates available. (before end of school year 2007) [Alkia, Tyra]
  
  GOAL 2b - Work with US Diversity Committee to establish a Diversity Movie Night on campus for a special viewing of the movie "CRASH" for students, parents and faculty/staff, followed by a facilitated discussion. Explore option to promote this movie night as a fundraiser for the SSFS Financial Aid Program. (Event to be held by end of Feb 2007) [Sydney]
  
  GOAL 2c- Explore opportunity for SSFS to re-activate participation in SEED (Seeking Educational Equity & Diversity) program which will offer parents, staff, faculty, and administrators a chance to participate. SEED is a national curriculum development program that focuses on infusing equity and multiculturalism into classroom practice. Monthly sessions enable members to share perspectives and develop strategies for change. (Application for leadership training for 07/08 due in April, 2007) [Sarita, Eileen]
  
  GOAL 2d - Work with US Student Clubs to provide support in promoting diversity related events. (Ongoing) [Tyra]

• Provide support to SSFS administration in the recruitment of diverse student body and new faculty candidates.
  
  GOAL 3a - Establish pool of volunteers and make available members to participate in recruitment, student fairs, interviews, etc… (Ongoing) [Peggy, Pat, Tyra, Debra, Eva]
  
  GOAL 3b - Explore opportunity to meet with Admissions and Board of Trustees committee to provide support ideas on outreach and orientation to new families at SSFS and to address opportunities for the retention of minority students currently at the school. [Peggy, Pat, Debra, Eva]

• Provide support to all other diversity committees on campus and establish collaborative efforts to identify and implement diverse opportunities on campus.
  
  GOAL 4a - Meet with clerks from all other SSFS diversity committees at SSFS to seek opportunities and find any areas where collaborative efforts can be joined together. (January 2007) [Barbara, Sydney, Susan, Debra, Eva]

Present: Barbara Gaffigan, Susan Gordon, Eileen Hollander, Sydney Jacobs, Tyra Lundy, Alkia Jones, Peggy Moore, Pat Rodriguez and Sarita Winter

Review of Current Mission and Vision Statements:
The first half of the meeting consisted of introductions and review of the committee's current Mission and Vision Statements. It was decided by the committee that we would re-evaluate these statements and re-write them in a manner that places a stronger focus on the goals and objectives of our committee. It was agreed that a small group of committee members would take on the task of drafting an initial revised version of these statements which will then be shared via email with all committee members for feedback. The goal would be to have versions approved by our committee ready to submit to the PA Committee for their final approval before the end of the year.

Review of Objectives and Goals:
The first half of the meeting consisted of introductions and review of the committee's current Mission and Vision Statements. It was decided by the committee that we would re-evaluate these statements and re-write them in a manner that places a stronger focus on the goals and objectives of our committee. It was agreed that a small group of committee members would take on the task of drafting an initial revised version of these statements which will then be shared via email with all committee members for feedback. The goal would be to have versions approved by our committee ready to submit to the PA Committee for their final approval before the end of the year.

It was reviewed that our committee is one of many diversity committees on campus. The All School Diversity Committee is comprised of the following: Lower School Diversity Committee, Middle School Diversity Committee, Upper School Diversity Committee, PA Diversity Committee and the Board of Trustees Diversity, Community and Spiritual Life Committee. It was also mentioned that various Upper School student clubs are invited to participate.

Given this broad range of groups already on campus, discussion occurred with regards to what exactly is our role as "parents" focusing on diversity at SSFS. It was agreed that while we have several ideas and suggestions about programs/or projects we'd like to see take place on campus, several of the goals to implement these ideas truly fall under that of other diversity committees on campus, not ours. It was discussed that the PA diversity committee role should be to place a stronger focus on helping to unite all the various committees on campus and provide support in order to form more collaborative efforts on campus for the SSFS community. By realizing a more focused view of our role, we will be able to define a more fine tuned mission and vision for our committee.

The 2006-2007 School Year PA Diversity Committee Action Plan was reviewed and all of four objectives were approved. Each objective was assigned to various committee members to further review, develop and to begin implementation. Each member assigned to an objective/goal was asked to:

• Review the wording of objective. Revise if necessary to provide a more detailed focus.

• Review the goals assigned under the objective and make changes (additions, deletions) as they feel necessary to complete the objective.

• Review the completion date and determine if that date is realistic, if not, revise the date.

• Be prepared to provide a revised version of your objectives and goals before the next meeting so we can have a final version ready to start working on goals by December.

Committee member assignments are listed below next to the objective/goal.

2006-2007 School Year PA Diversity Committee Action Plan - DRAFT

The SSFS PA committee will establish a set of objectives and goals that will develop diversity outreach opportunities within and outside the SSFS community and revisit our mission and vision statements to assure our message is current and up to date.

Objectives:

• Review current mission and vision statement of the SSFS PA Diversity committee to assure it is reflective of our current objectives and goals.
  
  GOAL 1a - Update mission and vision if applicable and submit to All School Diversity Committee. (December 2006) [Alkia, Tyra, Sarita, Sydney]
  
  GOAL 1b - Review PA Diversity Website and update as applicable. (Ongoing) [Alkia, Tyra, Sarita, Sydney]

• Develop opportunities for SSFS community to participate in diversity events on campus.
  
  GOAL 2a - Identify potential speakers and set at least 1 date for presentation to the SSFS Parent community on a various diversity issues. Work with PA to identify any potential dates available. (before end of school year 2007) [Alkia, Tyra]
  
  GOAL 2b - Work with US Diversity Committee to establish a Diversity Movie Night on campus for a special viewing of the movie "CRASH" for students, parents and faculty/staff, followed by a facilitated discussion. Explore option to promote this movie night as a fundraiser for the SSFS Financial Aid Program. (Event to be held by end of Feb 2007) [Sydney]
  
  GOAL 2c- Explore opportunity for SSFS to re-activate participation in SEED (Seeking Educational Equity & Diversity) program which will offer parents, staff, faculty, and administrators a chance to participate. SEED is a national curriculum development program that focuses on infusing equity and multiculturalism into classroom practice. Monthly sessions enable members to share perspectives and develop strategies for change. (Application for leadership training for 07/08 due in April, 2007) [Sarita, Eileen]
  
  GOAL 2d - Work with US Student Clubs to provide support in promoting diversity related events. (Ongoing) [Tyra]

• Provide support to SSFS administration in the recruitment of diverse student body and new faculty candidates.
  
  GOAL 3a - Establish pool of volunteers and make available members to participate in recruitment, student fairs, interviews, etc… (Ongoing) [Peggy, Pat]
  
  GOAL 3b - Explore opportunity to meet with Admissions and Board of Trustees committee to provide support ideas on outreach and orientation to new families at SSFS and to address opportunities for the retention of minority students currently at the school. [Peggy, Pat]

• Provide support to all other diversity committees on campus and establish collaborative efforts to identify and implement diverse opportunities on campus.
  
  GOAL 4a - Meet with clerks from all other SSFS diversity committees at SSFS to seek opportunities and find any areas where collaborative efforts can be joined together. (January 2007) [Barbara, Sydney, Susan]

The PA Diversity Committee had a productive year. Our focus for this year was Socioeconomic Diversity, Faculty of Color and Increasing the Hispanic student body.

• Socioeconomic Diversity

  • Suggested a Used Sports Equipment Exchange and a Used Textbook Exchange in the Middle School and Upper School.

  • We plan to work with the Lower School to help with a Used Poncho and Boot Exchange in the fall.

  • We spoke with the Admissions Director about informing the parents in advance that books are not covered in tuition (Middle/Upper School), and giving parents an estimate of how much books will cost.

  • We took several issues that parents had brought to our attention to the respective SSFS divisions for resolution, as well as reporting the issues in the All-School Diversity Committee.

• Faculty of Color

  • We identified a Historically Black College or University (HBCU), Coppin State University, and we have gotten permission from the administration to start meetings with them to explore the possibility of modeling a program after the Gallaudet University program in the Lower School. This effort is to explore more creative ways of getting faces of color in the classroom.

• Increasing the number of Hispanic students in the school

  • We met with the Admissions Director and gave ideas about how market SSFS more effectively in the Hispanic community.

• Other Activities

  • We sponsored the visit of Rev. Bert Ransom to SSFS

  • We wrote a draft of a Diversity Action Plan as an example of what we could do to focus our Diversity efforts at SSFS and gave the plan to Ken Smith for his review and plan of action.

  • We participated in a session sponsored by the Potomac School's Diversity Committee to organize parent diversity groups in independent schools in the Washington metro area.

Because we had a new parent that attended the meeting, we started with a background of how our committee got started and some of the activities we've had.

Our focus for this year will be the following:

• Socioeconomic Diversity

• Help the Lower School with some of their initiatives, like a boot and poncho exchange.

• Sponsor a Used Textbook and a Used Sports Equipment Sale in the Middle School.

• Talk to Admissions about informing the parents in advance that books are not covered in tuition (Middle/Upper School), and giving parents an estimate of how much books will cost.

• Increasing awareness of how socioeconomic differences impact families. For example, we had a family whose child came home in tears because time in Spanish class was devoted to discussing the trip to Guatemala, and this child's family is unable to afford the trip. There should be more sensitivity to these situations.

• Faculty of Color

• Explore more creative ways of getting faces of color in the classroom. For example, visiting faculty, speakers, and a program modeled after the Gallaudet University program with a Historically Black College or University.

• Inviting Education Deans from universities in the area, so they are more familiar with the school and will recommend their graduates when they think there's a good fit.

• Increasing the number of Hispanic students in the school

• Working with Hispanic families to get the word out about SSFS.

We'll set up a subcommittee to work on the used book and equipment sales. If you're interested, please contact Alkia Jones. Also, if you have any other idea about socioeconomic diversity, faculty of color or increasing the number of Hispanic students in the school, please let Alkia know.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, December 6 at 8:15am. Location TBD.

The PA Diversity Committee (PADC) has chosen to focus our efforts on helping SSFS to attract, hire and retain faculty of color. Because the traditional methods of recruiting faculty of color have not been successful, we have created an action plan that we feel will lead to the accomplishment of this goal. Ken Smith has reviewed the plan and has agreed to work with us.

The members of the PADC have taken ownership of the following list of activities and will report their findings back to the committee. At that point, we will work with Ken to ensure that all contacts are made and results are communicated.

Accomplishments

• The PA Diversity Task Force became a standing committee of the Parents Association in April.

• Drafts of the Mission and Vision Statements for the committee have been written and will be put on the Diversity section of the SSFS website. Parents can view the statements and send comments to the committee. We hope to adopt the new Mission and Vision at the 1st PA meeting in the fall.

• The committee started making contacts at local HBCU's (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) to help SSFS build relationships that will lead to recruiting and retaining faculty of color.

• The committee found a company called Montage Diversity that may be able to help SSFS meet its Diversity goals. More research on the company's results at other independent schools will be done over the summer.

Goals for Next Year

• Communicating information about diversity-related activities and accomplishments of the different diversity committees on campus to the parent community.

• Working more closely with the All-School Diversity Committee.

• Ensuring that issues related to economic diversity are addressed.

• Establishing a program that will bring quality faculty of color to the campus.

• Helping to find more families to participate as guardians for International Students.

• Find a way of better communicating with the parents of the International Students.

• Coordinating a multi-cultural day or multi-cultural week that will combine activities that are already being done in the different divisions into either one day of events or one week of events.