Enlace a la carta abierta en Español
June 4, 2020
In solidarity with the thousands of organizations and systems across the world, IC Imagine recognizes that our country is at a pivotal place of change and we feel compelled to publicly claim our responsibility in stopping violence against people of color and ending racism.
As a public education institution, we are not only a place of learning, we are a community. We have made mistakes in the past and may misstep again in the future, but we are committed to learning and doing better for the benefit of all. Equity is the foundation of our collective and individual aspirations.
We recognize that our leadership consists mainly of individuals who have white privilege. Our silence would create an environment that does not acknowledge the reality of the impact of systemic racism upon all institutions of society, including education. We are committed to using this privilege as a responsibility toward dismantling systemic racism.
We believe that this is a crucial moment for us to identify to ourselves and our entire community that we value equity, racial justice, and dignity for all humans. While collectively we each bring different experiences and lenses to the conversation, we are united in the belief that it is our job to ensure that our students learn that implicit biases exist in the world and that we must work to understand and eliminate the impacts of institutional racism in all facets of our life. It is because of these values and beliefs that we absolutely cannot condone the violence against Black lives and other injustices we are continuing to witness across the nation.
We are committed to follow in the footsteps of brave and compassionate communities who work for racial justice and collective dignity. As the leadership team of this educational institution, we are committed to teaching our children to take social responsibility and to make decisions entrenched in love and acceptance, rather than fear and discomfort. We will do this through the following actionable steps:
- We will continue with professional development in culturally responsive teaching.
- We will provide a culturally relevant curriculum in all courses of study.
- We will expand the work and membership of our Justice Equity Dignity Inclusion (JEDI) committee.
- We will implement social justice as part of our social emotional curriculum and increase opportunities to engage in this curriculum.
- We will evaluate our policies and procedures to identify inequitable practices.
- We will create opportunities in the classroom and through clubs to have conversations about racism.
- We will implement hiring practices that prioritize diversifying our staff.
- We will continue reaching out to educationally disadvantaged communities to create a more diverse student body.
We understand that many of your children have seen the brutal events last week that ended George Floyd’s life along with the ongoing protests as they play over and over all day. Now is the time for us to have conversations and create space for dialogue with our children, our families, and our communities. It is crucial that this communication happens. We know that these are not easy conversations to have, so we have gathered some resources for you to explore:
Parent Toolkit: How to Talk to Kids About Race and Racism
If you or your student have questions or need additional support, we encourage you to reach out to the following members of our school community:
- School administrators:
- Head of School: Jenn Townley
- Director of Student Support: Sean Vervain
- Director of Fine Arts: Erika Wellman
- Lower School: Jamie Williams and Ellen Girardi
- Middle School: Ryan Bell
- Upper School: Nicole Morin
- School level counselors:
- Lower School: Michael Holm and Ashlee Kinnaird
- Middle School: Jesse Mitchell
- Upper School: Abbey Gelineau and Chelsea Lafferty
Thank you for choosing to be a part of our Imagine family and standing in solidarity with us,
Jenn Townley, Head of School
Sean Vervain, Director of Student Support
Erika Wellman, Director of Fine Arts
Jamie Williams, Principal of Lower School
Ellen Girardi, Assistant Principal of Lower School
Ryan Bell, Principal of Middle School
Nicole Morin, Principal of Upper School