In a letter to the full AFS community, Rich Nourie outlined several steps the school is taking to commit more fully to greater care and equity at AFS given the state of racial justice and injustice in our country. Those steps include:

• Contracting with Simone Golden, a licensed social worker and certified professional coach to create spaces of growth, healing, sharing and learning. Check out her podcast interview with Director of Equity, Justice and Engagement, Mikael Yisrael for the first episode, which will be part of his Radical Roo site. Starting the week of November 16, Simone will be leading sessions with our Middle and Upper School Black Student Unions with invitations to all Black students to participate; with our faculty and staff of color; and with families of students of color.
• Continuing age-appropriate discussions and curriculum pieces in the Lower School and in the Conscious Communities program in the Middle and Upper Schools. Mikael Yisrael, works with all faculty in all divisions in creating these opportunities and conversations. The Conscious Communities program, well-established in Middle School, has now begun for all students in Upper School and the launch has given timely spaces for exploring contemporary issues in identity and race.
• Seeking new growth as a faculty and staff in our professional knowledge and skill around teaching in a deeply diverse community such as AFS. Mikael will be working with Point Made Learning to engage all faculty and staff with a program called Look Deeper: Race, a digital experience built around the groundbreaking documentary I’m Not Racist… Am I?. Completion of the digital course will be followed by a series of faculty and staff debriefs/dialogues to further build community and gain a deeper understanding of the core issues.