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.

• 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.