inclusivity
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Statement of Inclusivity

We are committed to building a connected community that embraces multiple perspectives and cultural competency to strengthen gifted education and growth in the whole child. At Mirman, we strive to integrate inclusivity in our curriculum, school culture, and institutional identity. We honor and support a community built on diversity of thought, experiences, and identities to best engage our students in the academic, sociocultural, and complex world in which we learn and live.

Belonging. Dignity. Justice.

Our IE work is embedded in everything we do, and guided by our Office of Equity, Inclusion and Community; the Board Committee on Inclusivity; and the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ) Committee of Faculty and Staff. Our work is guided by Mirman's mission, philosophy of education, core values, and the overarching question: "What are the different ways we honor our individual and shared strengths in service to our local and global communities?"

IE at Mirman bridges three areas of school life: curriculum and instruction, culture and climate, and institutional identity. Guided by the Board of Trustees' vision and strategic plan, students, families, and educators partner together to teach, learn, and practice inclusivity and equity in our connected community.

Our IE work includes but is not limited to affinity groups, community-wide professional development, service learning, and campus activities.

Guiding Principles and Practice

We strengthen ourselves, our relationships, and our communities by affirming differences and enriching connections through cultural competency and anti-bias education. These intersecting practices enable us to nurture constructive lifelong learners through the following principles:
 
Cultural Competency — How we engage across differences and diversity within a community

  • Cultural Self-Awareness: How does my cultural identity influence the way I interact on a daily basis?
  • Awareness of Other Cultures: What is my understanding of the culture of the individuals/groups I am engaging?
  • Cross-Cultural Effectiveness Skills: What skills do I need to work effectively across differences?
  • Advocating for Equity through Inclusion: How do I manage the dynamics of privilege and bias that may impact my daily interactions, in order to work toward a better world?
Anti-Bias Education — What cultural competency looks like in curriculum and instruction through the lens of childrens' identity development

  • Identity: Each child will demonstrate self-awareness, confidence, family pride, and positive social identities.
  • Diversity: Each child will express comfort and joy with human diversity; accurate language for human differences; and deep, caring human connections.
  • Justice: Each child will increasingly recognize unfairness, have language to describe unfairness, and understand that unfairness hurts.
  • Action/Advocacy: Each child will demonstrate empowerment and the skills to act, with others or alone, against prejudice and/or discriminatory actions.

Affinity Groups

"Invisibility erases identity and experience. Visibility affirms reality."
— Louise Derman-Sparks and Julie Olsen Edwards

Adapted from Derman-Sparks and Edwards’ anti-bias education framework, in 2018-2019 Mirman launched affinity groups to affirm identity and experience for all of the constituents that make up our community — students, families, and faculty and staff. Affinity groups, regardless of age, are brave spaces to continue the ever-growing, ever-evolving work on our individual and collective identities. Affinity groups at Mirman never function in isolation, and in fact, intentionally gather together to engage in cross-racial, cross-cultural, and intersectional dialogues. These are spaces of connectivity, laughter, discomfort, discoveries, vulnerability, resilience, and most importantly, of immersion/emersion — we go in fully and come out more whole.
Affinity Groups are currently offered to all Upper School students on a voluntary basis, and are facilitated by trained faculty and administration. Students choose the affinity group(s) that speak to their identities with a focus on self-discovery, self-awareness, and self-affirmation.

For Families
The current affinity group offerings for families include:
  • Families of African Ancestry at Mirman (FAAM) is the longest-standing affinity group at Mirman and includes current Mirman students, parents and faculty as well as past Mirman students and families. FAAM is both a safe and brave space for Black families to connect, build and share their unique and collective experiences about what it means to be Black at Mirman. FAAM meets quarterly.
  • Motherhood and Feminist Activism is for mothers at Mirman, including trans and non-binary femmes, to center conversations around motherhood, patriarchy, and gender equity through an intersectional lens.
  • People of Color Collective is for parents and guardians who identify as people of color to lend their voices to uplift and work alongside other Mirman community members to explore, unpack, and engage in conversation on the various interpersonal dynamics, beliefs, and thoughts that shape our racialized experiences as people of color.
  • White Anti-Racist Model (WARM) is a community of support, education and accountability for White people. It is a place for us to move conversations about race and racism from the theoretical to the lived experience and as we begin and/or continue to practice what it means to be anti-racist. This space offers a safe, supportive, and collective place to develop our awareness and grow in our individual identities as people and parents.
For Students
The current affinity group offerings for students include:
  • Black/African American Student Union is an affinity group for students who identify as Black/African American to connect, build, and share their unique and collective experiences about what it means to be Black at Mirman.
  • Jew Wanna Talk? is an affinity space to share experiences, concerns, and further develop students’ identities as Jewish people. This group is open to people who identify as culturally, ethnically, and/or religiously Jewish.
  • Kaleidoscope is an affinity space for students to connect over experiences and conversations about unique family structures. We celebrate all the beautiful and complex aspects that each of our families represent in our lives.
  • PRISM is a brave space for Mirman students who identify across the spectrum or are personally questioning to come together to explore their identities, discuss shared experiences & challenges, to build community.
  • Shades of White is an affinity space for recognizing, discussing, and understanding what being white means for yourself and others through an activist lens.
  • Students of Color Collective (SOCC) is an umbrella affinity space that brings all students of color and multiracial students together. SOCC makes visible the racial and ethnic diversity on Mirman’s campus by affirming individual and collective identities.
 
For Faculty and Staff
The current affinity group offerings for faculty and staff include:
  • Asian, Pacific Islander, South Asian Affinity Group is a brave space for open dialogue to recognize the unique challenges Asian, Pacific Islander faculty and staff face and to provide a space for the diverse voices, narratives and experiences of Asian, Pacific Islander communities as we celebrate each other.
  • Black Excellence at Mirman (BEAM) is an affinity space for Black/African American faculty and staff to freely confront the issue of humanization, resist, connect, collectively heal and build together.
  • Gay, Lesbian or Whatever (GLOW) is brave space for Mirman faculty and staff who identify across the spectrum or are personally questioning to come together to explore their identities, discuss shared experiences & challenges, to build community.
  • International Affinity Group is a space to build a cross-cultural, international community at Mirman to connect, celebrate, and support each other.
  • Jewish Affinity Group is an affinity space to share experiences, concerns, and further develop faculty and staff members’ identities as Jewish people. This group is open to people who identify as culturally, ethnically, and/or religiously Jewish.
  • Feminists Affinity Group is an affinity space open to faculty or staff who identifies as a feminist and/or wants to learn more about feminism.
  • Latinx Affinity Group is a space to build, connect and celebrate with each other around what it means to identify as Latinx, Latina, or Hispanic in our communities.
  • Working Parents Affinity Group is an affinity space for working parents to come together to share their experiences, discuss resources and provide reciprocal support as we navigate issues related to being both an employee and a parent.
  • White Anti-Racist Alliance Group is a space for recognizing, discussing, and understanding what being White means for yourself and others through an activist, anti-racist lens.
For more information about IE, please contact the Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Community.
16180 Mulholland Drive Los Angeles, CA 90049  |  info@mirman.org  |  Tel: (310) 476-2868  |  Fax: (310) 471-1532
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