Inclusion
About Apple Blossom's IDEA Committee
About Apple Blossom’s IDEA Committee
Apple Blossom Waldorf School is committed to an ongoing process of learning, listening and deepening our understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion. The IDEA committee consists of AB faculty, staff and caregivers in the community. We have spent the last few months discussing how we can be more inclusive and aware within our community as well as being role models for our children.
​
What is IDEA?
Inclusion refers to the intentional, ongoing effort to ensure that diverse individuals fully participate in all aspects of organizational work, including decision-making processes. It also refers to the ways that diverse participants are valued as respected members of an organization and/or community.
​
Diversity is all the ways that people are different and the same at the individual and group levels. Even when people appear the same, they are different. Organizational diversity requires examining and questioning the makeup of a group to ensure that multiple perspectives are represented.
​
Equity is the fair and just treatment of all members of a community. Equity requires commitment to strategic priorities, resources, respect, and civility, as well as ongoing action and assessment of progress toward achieving specific goals.
​
Access is giving equitable access to everyone along the continuum of human ability and experience. Accessibility encompasses the broader meanings of compliance and refers to how organizations make space for the characteristics that each person brings.
​
Source: American Alliance of Museums
Diversity Statement
Apple Blossom Waldorf School is committed to an ongoing process of learning, listening and deepening our understanding of diversity, equity and inclusion. Our faculty, staff and board are committed to our community and all that we bring to one another. Our school and family center is a place where each individual is welcomed and respected. We value the virtues of families, faculty and staff from a diverse range of human experiences. We do not discriminate on the basis of race,
ethnicity, class, religion, gender, gender identity, socio-economic background, age, physical abilities, political beliefs, country of origin, or culture in the administration of our educational or admissions programs and policies. We consider racism and
any form of discrimination unacceptable.
Anti-Bias Education Statement
In our classrooms we work with the four goals of Anti-Bias Education: Identity, Diversity, Justice and Action. To support the respect for all things, our school’s “Golden Rules” are: kind words, gentle hands, and everyone belongs.
During the early childhood years, the formation of a child’s self-awareness and identity development occur. Since young children learn through imitation, our teachers use and model respectful language. We gently, but firmly, interrupt any biased behavior or language, while offering a different narrative.
We embrace and respect all families and their individual family culture. We appreciate and respect our differences and acknowledge our commonalities as human beings.
Using observation and communication the teachers strive to meet each child as an individual. We strive to create caring connections with all children, allowing each child to feel a sense of belonging. Through our curriculum and classroom materials, such as diverse books, stories, dolls and puppets, we offer the children “windows and mirrors” into the world.