Addressing Racism
In the summer of 2020, in response to a forceful call to action from students, alumni, parents, faculty, and staff, we set forth plans to focus on eradicating racism within and beyond at Harvard-Westlake. Our plans included improving our curriculum, educating our community, strengthening our admission and hiring practices, and sharing our work and resources with other schools. In keeping with our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Commitments, these initiatives are ongoing and ever evolving.
Brown Bags
During the school year, faculty and staff gather regularly to break bread together and to discuss significant topics such as neurodiversity, the model minority myth, culturally responsive teaching practices, addressing racism, sexual orientation, and gender in today’s world.
Civil Rights Trip
Students and teachers engage with history annually by exploring the sites of the Civil Rights Movement, creating a bridge between classroom knowledge and lived experience. We see where Rosa Parks boarded the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, kicking off the Civil Rights Movement. We visit the basement of a house that made up part of the underground railroad and go to the new National Memorial for Peace and Justice, contending with the history of lynching as we read metal planks listing the names of those lynched. We sit in the church where Martin Luther King Jr. preached and stand at the site of his assassination. The trip gives students a moving, meaningful, and powerful experience connecting to significant aspects of U.S. history.
Diversity Recruiting Fair
Harvard-Westlake hosted the inaugural Southern California Diversity Recruiting Fair in February 2019 and continues to host it annually on our upper school campus. The primary goal of the fair is to expose independent schools to numerous job candidates from underrepresented groups. This extremely popular fair also gives attendees the opportunity to learn about working in an independent school, build resume writing and interviewing skills, find out about open positions, and incorporate diversity, equity, and inclusion into their work.
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Heritage Festival
The Heritage Festival at HW celebrates the school’s diverse community by bringing families together to share cultures, connect with new members, and participate in vibrant affinity groups.
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Pollyanna Conference
Every fall, Harvard-Westlake hosts the Pollyanna Conference to explore diversity, equity, and inclusion-related topics and share ideas. The mission of Pollyanna is to create a platform “where groups of people can explore together diversity, inclusion, and equity and share ideas, experiences, and knowledge in their immediate communities. The conference model is a dynamic, focused, and interactive program that provides guidance and training for community leaders. The goal is to improve inclusion within communities and the understanding that racial, socioeconomic, religious, and sexual diversity enhances all elements of the community.”
Pollyanna is structured a bit differently than other conferences. Each school is represented as a school pod with approximately 15 individuals who play a distinct role in advancing the diversity, equity, and inclusion discussion at their school.
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SLIDE LDP
Student Leaders for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity (SLIDE) Leadership Development Program (LDP) provides a unique opportunity for students from participating independent, public, charter, online, religious, and all other school types in grades 10-12 to gather for fellowship, leadership development, courageous conversations, and the creation of a sustainable action plan around topics of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging. Student leaders engage in programming designed specifically so that they will be able to return to their respective school communities equipped to strategize, organize, and advance the missions of their institutions around diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging. It is formatted as a three-day/two-night residential program with daily programming on Harvard-Westlake’s Upper School campus and nightly activities and boarding in local university dorms.
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Summer Reads
Each summer, Harvard-Westlake faculty and staff engage in a community read centered around key themes of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. These shared experiences foster deeper reflection, encourage meaningful conversations, and help educators better support our students and one another throughout the school year.
Wellness and Belonging Collaborative
Our Wellness and Belonging Collaborative at Harvard-Westlake consists of faculty and staff members who work together to foster wellness, belonging, and inclusion across our school community. WBC members meet regularly throughout the year, engaging in ongoing personal growth and professional learning to better support the school's commitment to addressing racism, bias, wellness, and inequity. Their work includes self-reflection, exploration of evidence-based practices, and supporting their departmental colleagues in integrating the school’s mission and values into everyday practices, policies, and interactions.