Rationales:
- To prepare Westerly students to be lifelong leaders, creators, and contributors
- To demonstrate Westerly’s institutional commitment to inclusivity and diversity as essential to the best educational process
- To ensure the Westerly community fosters a safe and supportive school climate that encourages students to be passionate, curious, and take risks
- To expose students to learning opportunities through which they establish connections and real world experiences
Action Steps:
- Communicate the role of the Board of Trustees (BOT) to the community
- Establish the Westerly Parent Association (WPA) as the principal pathway for parent engagement on campus
- Establish processes to better engage Westerly alumni
- Attract and enroll mission appropriate students and families
- Better engage the internal and external community with Westerly’s mission, practices, and impact
- Connect Westerly students to service learning opportunities that involve community outreach and partnerships
Progress as of June 2022:
- Established a board-led Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force in Fall of 2020
- Ratified and have adopted Westerly’s first Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
○ Will be published on website, in all school materials, signatures on email address, and in every learning space on campus - Have begun consistent communications including Wildcat Weekly and solicitation letters/notes to Alumni and Founding Families
- Planning Community Education Opportunities for internal and external (prospective) families for 2022-23 including: Independent School 101, the Social-Emotional Lives of Children: What to expect and how to support
- Reviewing & Updating WPA Guidelines to ensure transparency and clear expectations/communications including WPA Board transition, voting processes, and financial obligations
- Have created Room Parent Handbook to support Room Parents’ productive communications and class leadership