Equity and Inclusion

Maret is committed to continue building a truly equitable and inclusive community. We must listen and do more to fight institutional racism at Maret; we must examine our practices, policies and protocols to ensure equitable experiences. 

Goals of Maret's Anti-Racism Task Force 

1. We must further educate our teachers and school leaders to reduce systemic bias through diversity and inclusion trainings that are iterative and ongoing. 

2. We must develop a system of reporting injustices when they happen, with clear and transparent steps for each incident. 

3. We need to conduct an institutional audit to ensure that our educational program provides a positive, unbiased and comprehensive curricula and that our admissions, hiring, and retention programs are devoid of bias and promote a truly diverse population. 

4. We call on the entire Maret community (faculty, parents, students) to partner with the school and uphold its commitment to Maret’s anti-racist efforts. The work of the Task Force will be informed by a series of one-time listening groups, as well as advisory groups that meet regularly. 

5. We must work with our Institutional Research team to analyze past research and develop new tools to root out racial bias in our program and practices. 

Task Force Co-Chairs
Ian Cameron (President of the Board of Trustees)
Courtney Cothran-Fenner (Director of Equity and Inclusion)

Task Force Members
Nina Candia (Assistant Director of US)
Susan Epps (Assistant Head)
David Hall (Trustee)
Allie Levey (Director of College Counseling)
Krystle Merchant (Director of Community Engagement)
Clif Morgan (MPA Executive Committee)
Lex Sant (Trustee)
Sylvia White (Trustee)

Ex-Officio
Marjo Talbott (Head of School)

Read more about the work of the Task Force here.

As the director of equity and inclusion, Courtney Cothran-Fenner spearheads Maret’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and initiatives. She supports opportunities to champion new ideas, collaborate across boundaries, create safety in affinity, and develop anti-racism practices. She serves as the co-chair of the Committee on Equity and Inclusion with the head of school and coordinates K-12 student, faculty, family, and alumni programming and events that further the work of CEI. The director also leads the intensive seminar experience known as Deepening the Discussion About Race (DDR) and other important faculty training opportunities. She is a member of Student Life and Programs (SLP) and Division Directors, Department Chairs, and Directors (D3) and reports directly to the head of school. She is also a member of the Humanities Department and teaches two classes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Co-chair the Anti-Racism Task Force (ARTF) with the president of the Board during the fall of 2020 and champion the recommendations that evolve.
• Develop, with CEI and other school leaders, programs and protocols that combat anti-racism and that ensure that Maret is safe, welcoming, and affirming.
• Collaborate across school community to ensure equitable practices in admission, institutional research, development, hiring, pedagogy, student life, and communications. 
• Attend pivotal meetings and retreats that deal with the School’s Strategic Directions.
• Coach faculty on problem solving and conflict resolution with an equity lens.
• Support school leaders in vetting experiences, speakers, displays, and performances.
• Participate regularly with the Education and Equity Committee of the Board and offer training that helps to ensure Board alignment with Maret’s equity goals and work.
• Serve as a resource to the MPA Equity and Inclusion liaison in order to coordinate annual events, speaker series and focus groups.
• Attend regular professional development programming to stay abreast of current trends and practices in the field.

Dear Maret Community,

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have seen a rise in racially motivated attacks against Asian Americans nationwide. A recent article at the DCist website cites a report noting 140 hate incidents against Asian Americans in Maryland, Virginia, and D.C. since March 2020. This should not be acceptable to anyone.

This week, consistent with Maret’s Mission and our Core Values—which remind us to act with respect and integrity as we embrace our connectedness—these tragic events have been discussed in faculty meetings and in Middle and Upper School assemblies. We acknowledged the fear, anger, sadness, anxiety, and frustration caused by these events. We have also compiled resources that can help students, faculty, and families who want to learn more, who might be seeking help, or who are looking for ways to actively support our Asian community.

You can find these resources on the Equity and Inclusion page of our website. While these resources are not exhaustive, they do offer a place to start. If you have other suggestions, please send them our way.

To those in our community who are hurting, especially our Asian faculty, students, and families, we offer our love and support.

Please take care,

Marjo

Dear Maret Community,

Over the past seven months the Anti-Racism Task Force, with the support of consultants from the San Francisco Coalition of Essential Small Schools (SF-CESS), worked to honestly assess Maret’s practices, policies, and protocols through a racialized lens. Our goal was clear: to make meaningful changes that will help the School live up to its Mission and Core Values.

Today, we share with you recommendations from SF-CESS to move forward with clear and immediate purpose to combat systemic and institutional racism at Maret and build an anti-racist school culture. The report also includes extensive data collected by SF-CESS through our listening groups, surveys, and an equity audit.  

Read Our Letter Here

As co-chairs of the Anti-Racism Task Force, we would like to thank our partners at SF-CESS, Camila Greene and Greg Peters, our dedicated colleagues on the Task Force, and the faculty, students, parents, and alumni from the Maret community who lent their voices to this important process. 

We welcome your questions, feedback, and continued engagement as we embark upon the work ahead. 

Sincerely,

Courtney Cothran-Fenner and Ian Cameron
Anti-Racism Task Force Co-Chairs

Dear Maret Community,

The Anti-Racism Task Force has been working with our consultants from the San Francisco Coalition of Equitable Small Schools (SF-CESS) on several projects throughout this fall. We are grateful to all of you for the questions and feedback we have received on our work and our progress.

When the Anti-Racism Task Force was created this summer, we promised to examine honestly our practices, policies, and protocols in order to determine actionable and substantive plans to address racism at Maret, ensuring that we truly live our mission. Our goal was to deliver a final report by December or early January. Given the importance and the actual volume of work needed to do a comprehensive job, our timetable has shifted with the goal of having a final report to our community by early February. Until then, we wanted to take a moment to update you on the work of the Task Force and the progress made in a number of areas.

The Anti-Racism Task Force committed to involving the community in our work through listening groups and surveys. To that end, our consultants at SF-CESS conducted 12 Race-Alike Listening Sessions with 128 participants and received 53 written responses submitted from families, faculty, students, and alumni. At the end of October, they compiled and shared a comprehensive summary to listening session participants and to the Task Force. The summary spelled out numerous recommendations from participants in the listening sessions that will be integrated into the final report, including:

• White dominant culture power structures need to be identified and addressed.
• Structures and timetables for cross-race dialogue and anti-racist training with the entire Maret community (students, families, faculty and leadership) need to be created, implemented, and embedded in school life and in the curriculum. The community needs to go through this growth together in order for an anti-racist Maret identity to be enacted, embraced, and woven into the fabric of the school. 
• The words accountability and transparency showed up in every listening group. Maret needs to actively build trust through accountability structures, ongoing engagement, and open, consistent communication. Maret will need to enact explicit and public accountability structures, create new forums for community engagement and decision-making, and consistently report out and get feedback on what the school is doing and what changes are being experienced as a result.

SF-CESS has also conducted a Cultural Proficiency Survey—all current Upper School students, the entire faculty, and many families participated in order to determine where Maret is on the continuum of cultural awareness. The Task Force received an analysis of the results of this survey this week. Below are a few of the major findings from the survey, which will be outlined in depth in the final report:

• Regarding racial equity and inclusion, there is a definite split between intent and impact; our intention as a school is earnest, but the impact is not substantial.
• Students across racial difference are having radically different experiences at Maret.
• Racial identity development work among students and faculty is uneven, as much of it is optional and not required.

With the assistance of our consultants, the Task Force is currently conducting an Institutional Audit—a self-assessment to identify, interrupt, and transform inequities that exist in key areas of the School’s operations. The Task Force is working in four sub-groups to take deep dives and research four areas:

• Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction: Student report comments from teachers in grades K-12 for the 2018-2019 school year are being examined for trends in how teachers describe students across racial differences.
• Personalization and Belonging: Faculty engagement with advisory groups is being examined to have a clearer picture of how included Maret students feel.
• Leadership and Engagement: School leadership positions are being mapped, from faculty leadership groups to the Board of Trustees, in order to recommend best practices through an equitable lens.
• Core Systems: Hiring practices and retention of faculty of color, particularly Black faculty, are being assessed to create systems and structures for increased retention.

These groups are focused clearly and efficiently on specific areas in each category to begin repairing systems that need to be examined through an Anti-Racist lens. While they are by no means exhaustive, the outcomes will help shape future work for the Board, school leadership, faculty, students, and families so that we can build a truly equitable school.

Finally, based on all the data that we are collecting, our consultants are recommending a System for Healing when racial harm has occurred. The strategies will be used throughout our community for students, faculty, and families:

1. to work proactively to prevent racial harm by shoring up the community’s anti-racism skills;
2. to take a regular pulse of racialized interactions within the school community; and
3. to respond to incidents of racial harm.

These protocols will be included in an extensive and completed report from SF-CESS to be delivered to the Anti-Racism Task Force by the end of January. By early February, the Task Force will then share a comprehensive summary of the report with the community, which will include explicit next steps to combat racism at our school. We will include our priorities on how we will proceed to ensure that white dominant bias is no longer the foundation of our policies, practices, and culture. We intend to be fully transparent in our findings as we earnestly move forward.

All of these efforts are substantive and are taking time to work through. As co-chairs, we are grateful to our Task Force colleagues for the time and effort they have dedicated to this work and to those from our community who have courageously shared their experiences with us.

As always, we welcome your suggestions or questions on the work of the Task Force.

Take care and stay safe,

Courtney Cothran-Fenner & Ian Cameron
Co-Chairs, Anti-Racism Task Force

Dear Maret Community,

As I acknowledged in a letter in early June, our nation has been struggling with persistent violence against and murder of Black people—often by the very people sworn to protect them. Black Lives Matter and Maret supports the goals of dismantling systems of institutional racism and injustice.

Our school is not immune from these ills, and too many have experienced racism and prejudice at Maret. Challenging and constructive conversations are underway about more deliberate and effective steps we can take to combat systemic and institutional racism and be a truly welcoming and safe community for everyone, particularly people who identify as Black.

Last week, a conversation began on Instagram (@blackatmaret), providing a forum for Black students, faculty, alumni, and families to share and discuss their experiences at Maret. Many of those experiences do not reflect what Maret – in its parts and as a whole – aspires to be, and it is evident that these wounds continue to cause pain.

I truly appreciate the honesty expressed in these postings and have spent this past week reflecting with our team on how to respond thoughtfully. While reading the messages has produced feelings of anger, profound sadness and deep regret, it is important that all of us listen carefully and recognize that we must be willing to change. We need to sit in the reality of our institutional and individual shortcomings, knowing that the harm revealed by these stories far outweighs our discomfort. This is a time of meaningful and ongoing reflection for all of us - the school leadership, faculty, students, and whole community. Creating an environment of respect, equity, and inclusion is embedded in our Mission.

The School’s leadership team, acting in partnership with the entire faculty and the Board of Trustees, has the obligation to set a higher standard of inclusion and engagement. Fulfilling that role requires us to deal directly with transgressions (both micro or macro) directed at our Black alumni, students, parents, and faculty.

Over the past decade, Maret has put in place many programs that further the work of opposing systemic racism. One example is the in-house, intensive workshop Deepening the Discussion About Race, which every teaching and non-teaching faculty member has attended. All teachers continue this work through Equity Learning Groups (ELGs) throughout the year. However, our efforts still fall short of where we should be.

We have decided to re-constitute the 2015 Task Force for Equity & Inclusion – renaming it the “Anti-Racism Task Force.” This Task Force will call upon every parent, guardian, trustee, student, and employee to affirmatively take responsibility for fostering an environment of safety and belonging for every member of the community. Some of the first steps will be to complete an institution equity audit to identify problems in our policies and practices; develop unvarnished and inclusive curricula across all subjects; and ensure that identity and equity education is explicitly taught through a variety of channels, including our newly developed Wellness classes across all thirteen grades.

Board President Ian Cameron, and Director of Equity & Inclusion, Courtney Cothran-Fenner, will co-lead this Task Force. This summer, the Task Force will set up listening groups of our alumni, student, faculty, and family communities. We hope that these frank conversations will help us heal, reflect, and grow. Our goal is to unearth our own systemic and institutional racism and to develop meaningful changes which will help us live up to our Mission and Core Values, making Maret the best it can be for each and every one of us. We will share what we learn and what we will do on a regular basis.

Please feel free to reach out to me directly (mtalbott@maret.org), Courtney Cothran-Fenner (ccothranfenner@maret.org), or Ian Cameron (ianocam61@gmail.com). Thank you for helping us continue to fight for equality and combat racial injustice.

Sincerely,
Marjo Talbott
Head of School

Dear Maret Friends,

We are seeing devastating and horrific attacks against Black people in this country. Though violent, racist acts have been occurring for centuries, the widespread dissemination of video brings an immediacy and a hurt that intensifies our feelings of anger, sadness, confusion, and anxiety. Exacerbating this grievous situation is the COVID-19 pandemic and its disproportionate impact on communities of color.

Now more than ever, we must wholeheartedly embrace Maret’s Mission and Core Values by continuing the fight against all acts of racism and bigotry. We must face and wrestle honestly with our collective history, and we must be steadfast in our commitment to goodness, decency, and respect. We, as a School, can do better.

At every major gathering over the past week, we have taken time to commemorate those who have lost their lives and honor those that are standing up against injustice. We are also learning about many of you who are showing up and speaking up in many forums, demanding that we not allow violence and racism to continue.

We have compiled resources for your family’s use on our website at this link: Supporting Our Black Community. While certainly not exhaustive, this is a place for us to continue the work of building a better, safer, and more equitable community, nation, and world. If you have other suggestions for us, please send them my way.

We also want to reach out to you as members of our larger community and offer our love and support in this very difficult time.

Please take care and be safe,

Marjo Talbott
Head of School

The Education and Equity Committee of the Board is responsible for ensuring that the School is building an equitable and inclusive learning community. This includes reviewing Maret's educational programs to make sure that they are consistent with and meet the high standards of the mission of the School. The Committee also ensures that the Board has in place policies and procedures that promote the principles of equity and inclusion in general and within the academic and co-curricular programs at Maret. The Committee reports to the Board about the nature, direction, and needs of the School's educational programs and helps cultivate an appreciation for the broad diversity of the School. 

David Hall, Chair
Suzy George
Colin Stretch
Ted Stettinius
Victoria Wassmer
Beth Wilkinson

Courtney Cothran-Fenner, Director of Equity and Inclusion
Maria Lopez, Assistant Head of School: Curriculum Development

• To be a forum in which equity issues in the community (i.e., parents, faculty, and students) are processed
• To plan equity and inclusion programming in each division
• To ensure substantive professional development related to equity and inclusion for Maret faculty
• To provide programming for our parents on equity and inclusion
• To support forums for open and sustained dialogue on equity and inclusion in the Maret community
• To monitor the progress made on Strategic Directions 
• With the Board Committee on Education and Equity, to monitor the progress made on recommendations of the Anti-Racism Task Force

• Courtney Cothran-Fenner, Director of Equity and Inclusion—Co-chair
• Marjo Talbott, Head of School—Co-chair
• Berook Alemayehu, Math Department Chair
• Dana Krein, Humanities Teacher
• Jung Lee, Third Grade Homeroom Teacher
• Krystle Merchant, Director of Community Engagement &  Partnerships
• Jessica Samowitz, Lower School Librarian
• Patrick Scott, Director of Middle School Admissions & Social Media
• Steven Tejada, Director of Upper School

Many programs are now integral to Maret school life:

• Committee on Equity & Inclusion (monthly)
• Admission Outreach (throughout the year)
• Faculty of Color Recruitment (second semester)
• Deepening Discussion About Race (summer 2016 and ongoing discussions throughout the year)
• Davies Scholars (US) (admission season) 
• Davies Exposure and Enrichment Program (summer, advising throughout the year)
• Faculty Meeting Focus on Equity and Inclusion (numerous times a year)
• Meet, Eat, & Greet for Parents/Guardians with Students of Color (September)
• Other Maret Parents Association Diversity Committee Events (Spring)
• Coming Out Day, K-12 (October)
• Day of Silence, Middle and Upper Schools (April)
• Different Kinds of Families, Lower School
• Culture Club, Lower School (monthly)
• Faculty Affinity Groups (periodic)
  • WARA (White Anti-Racist Allies)
  • Black Faculty Affinity
  • Faculty of Color Affinity
  • LGBTQ Faculty Affinity
  • Asian Affinity
• Affinity Groups – Student Periodic
  • Black Student Union
  • Asian Affinity
  • LGBTQ Affinity
• Parent Coffees across difference
• Diversity at Maret Student Group (weekly)
• Queer-Straight Alliance (weekly)
• Day of Dialogue (annually)
• Mixed Forum (annually)
• LGBTQ Family Gathering
• NAIS People of Color Conference and Student Diversity Leadership Conference (annually)
• Achievement Gap Review
• Exit Interviews with African American students (May)
• Hispanic Heritage Month (September)
• Quantitative and Qualitative Review

In the fall, Maret honors National Coming Out Day by celebrating the LGBTQIA members of our community (students, faculty, parents, alumni). The day often includes chalking the sidewalks around campus with names of famous LGBTQIA people, an assembly in which we invite members of our own community to share their stories, and a photo exhibit for members of our community to share their personal connections to the LGBTQ community.

Through literature, social studies, music, and guided classroom discussions, Lower School students explore their thoughts about diversity, respectfully hear other perspectives, and work through differences to achieve a firm sense of community. Many students gather to learn about foods, games, holiday traditions, dances, and other cultural pastimes in the popular Culture Club.

Initiated by students, middle schoolers volunteer to join affinity groups based on personal racial identity. The groups meet during lunch to discuss issues and concerns that are specific to that group--both issues from the larger community, and issues students feel are important to their experiences at Maret. Students benefit from these affinity groups by having a safe place to share, connect, and collaborate with peers of a shared racial identity. Groups include:

Asian Affinity
Black Affinity
Latinx Affinity
Middle Eastern Affinity
Q Affinity

The Middle School also has a White Anti-Racist Allies (WARA) group. It isn't an affinity group, rather a working group focused on education and action.

Upper School affinity groups provide a space for reflection, dialogue, and support for students who share a racial or ethnic identity. Participation in affinity groups is voluntary. Affinity groups help facilitate positive identity exploration and provide a space for affirmation,and development towards a larger goal of creating an inclusive and thriving school culture. Upper School Affinity Groups include:

Asian Affinity
Black Girl Magic
Black Student Union
Handsome Black Men Affinity
Latinx Affinity
Middle Eastern Affinity
Multiracial Affinity
Q Affinity
South Asian Affinity
Unique Family Structure Affinity

Upper School DAM promotes diversity awareness, focusing on the identifiers of race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, gender, socioeconomic status, and age. DAM provides an arena for open discussion and includes the School community in numerous activities to ensure that every voice is heard and every difference celebrated.

The Queer-Straight Alliance (QSA) is a student-run club whose purpose is to build alliances between students who fall along a variety of positions on the sexual- and gender- spectrums. Our mission is to help create a well-informed, welcoming, and empowered student body. We raise awareness of current social issues, encourage cross-difference dialogue, and provide leadership for shool-sponsored events, such as National Coming Out Day and Day of Silence.

Each year, a group of Maret Upper School students spend a Saturday attending Georgetown Day School's Sexual Assault Summit. Students attend workshops to learn how to dismantle the systems of gender oppression that often lead to sexual assault; additionally, they hear stories from sexual assault survivors. They take what they've learned and share with the Upper School community, as well as take actionable steps toward making Maret a more equitable and safe place for all genders.

At the beginning of each school year, new faculty participate in the Deepening the Discussion About Race workshop designed to develop a greater awareness of how race shapes their leadership at Maret. They examine the history and context of race and racism in our country, our city, and on our campus. Together, they develop a common language, a shared framework, and a set of tools to benefit their students.

During the week participants develop a greater awareness of how race shapes their leadership at Maret as well as an understanding of the history and context around race and racism in our country, in Washington, and at Maret. Participants examine definitions of racism, oppression, and white privilege and explore how this is ingrained at Maret. Together, faculty develops common language, a shared framework, and set of tools that will positively impact their students.

The institute began in 2012, and to date, 100% of our faculty have completed the workshop.

Faculty Reflections

"We asked ourselves how can we rethink the School, its assumptions, and the important experiences lived by the most important part of our jobs: the students."

"It was the first time that I've been to a conference where everyone in the room, except for two of the facilitators, were colleagues; that had a very intense effect on the week, but a promising one. I realized this work about race is part head and part heart, and without both you're not completing the picture."

"I always assumed and feared [that] white people would dismiss my concerns as me being too “sensitive”. I was surprised, elated, and moved to know that my white colleague and I could have this conversation and it wouldn’t end with me in tears."

"It’s one thing to pay lip service to the idea of being an inclusive and equitable community. It's another to be in a room with people for eight hours daily for five days with people from different backgrounds working towards that end. It's empowering.

"It’s scary. It’s emotionally exhausting. It’s a great way to start having thought-provoking, tough conversations about race, difference, what we want for ourselves professionally, personally, and for our students."

Our Equity Learning Groups are the community-wide follow-up work to Deepening the Discussion About Race. ELGs directly address teacher pedagogy by: 1) having teachers work to build authentically trusting relationships with each student; 2) reducing the predictability of failure and success among students; 3) disrupting repetitive practices that tend to negatively impact students from marginalized groups; and 4) cultivate the unique gifts and talents of every student (adapted from Zaretta Hammond).

Faculty affinity groups encourage building community and provide a safe space for all participants to identify salient issues and common concerns through dialogue; bring about affirmation, connection, and empowerment; and come together to promote and prepare for cross-cultural dialogue with other affinity groups. (Source: NAIS).

Black Faculty Affinity
East Asian Faculty Affinity
Faculty Parents
Faculty with Parents Suffering from Dementia
Middle Eastern Faculty Affinity
LQBTQIA+ Faculty Affinity

While not an affinity group, the A White Anti-Racist Educator (AWARE) working group meets in affinity to pursue further education and take meaningful action toward a more inclusive and equitable school community.