DEIA Newsletter

As we move into the second half of this school year, here is a reiteration of the LCPS Commitment to Equity. While this message is being reiterated at all schools within LCPS, may this serve as a recommitment to serving and supporting each and every student and staff member, every day.

LCPS centers equity as one of its foundational core values. For our community, equity means being committed to providing a safe, supportive, inclusive, affirming, and respectful environment for each student and staff member that fosters success, growth, and academic rigor. The cultivation of this environment requires us to reject and condemn the use of hate speech, racial slurs, antisemitism, and any action or behavior that discriminates based on race, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, gender expression, socio-economic status, religion, ability, or other cultural identities or expression. Such noninclusive speech, behavior, and actions do not reflect who we are as a learning community.

We embrace and value the unique identities, backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and needs of each student and employee. Celebrating our diversity is important and helps define us as a school division.

Demonstrating the courage to address inequities and remove barriers represents an integral part of our collective effort towards excellence in education. Equity is the vehicle that leads to greater access, opportunity, and equality, so that each student is empowered to make meaningful contributions to the world.

We are pleased to announce and celebrate Dr. Ellis-Williams’ new title as Assistant Superintendent, Division of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility!

We recognize that it is not possible to include every observation and celebration here. We encourage schools to know their communities and to highlight those observances that are important to staff, students and families. Resources listed are not maintained or monitored by LCPS.

February is Black History Month:

We celebrate the many political, economic, cultural achievements and contributions made by Black Americans. The annual observance in February began with Dr. Carter G. Woodson, who was known as the “Father of Black History.” Dr. Woodson was born in Virginia, and was a Harvard-educated scholar and educator who was dedicated to celebrating Black history and achievements. Because he believed that young African Americans were not being taught enough of their own history, he began the tradition with Negro History and Literature Week in 1924. This tradition was expanded to Black History Month and has been recognized and celebrated in schools and organizations during the month of February since 1976, when Gerald Ford issued a proclamation honoring Black History Month. The Division of Equity in LCPS encourages students, staff, and families to join us in our continued celebration of Black history, celebrations, and joy, during the month of February and throughout the year.

We commit to celebrating the identities of our students and welcome their experiences as assets in the classroom community throughout the year. Black History Month is an opportunity to learn about our students, families and the assets they bring to our classrooms. Educators can plan for content that provides “access to stories that do not see the Black experience as one rooted only in oppression and enslavement,” but also in celebration, pride, and Black Joy. Explore the history of the Kingdom of Kush and other ancient African Empires. Read poems from Amanda Gorman and Langston Hughes, add Afrobeats to the soundtrack of your classroom, and explore African American artists like Kehinde Wiley and movements like Afrofuturism. Invite Black leaders in STEM as virtual guest speakers. Reach out to local community groups who can come into your class and share rich culture and “the history of the present.” February is but one month, and we can sustain this commitment to inclusion all year long.

The following resources are being shared as a support for learning and teaching about Black History Month.

• Edutopia Article: Look Beyond the Struggle

• NEA Black History Month Lessons and Resources

• National Museum of African American History & Culture

• History.com: Black History Month 2024

• Association for the Study of African American Life and History: Black History Themes

The annual King Holiday Observance is a time that we celebrate, commemorate and honor the life, legacy and impact of Dr. Martin Luther King (The King Center).

Martin Luther King Jr. was a social activist and Baptist minister who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. King sought equality and human rights for African Americans, the economically disadvantaged and all victims of injustice through peaceful protest. He was the driving force behind watershed events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the 1963 March on Washington, which helped bring about such landmark legislation as the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and is remembered each year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a U.S. federal holiday since 1986. (History.com).

The following resources are being shared as a support for learning and teaching about Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

• The King Center

• History.com: Martin Luther King, Jr.

• National Education Association: Learning and Living the Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.

• National Museum of African American History and Culture

The welcoming, inclusive, and affirming environment includes choosing kind words over put-down language and striving to accept others rather than impose negative judgment in order to create a safe and supportive learning environment that allows for all students to think critically, share honestly, and take academic risks. These principles support awareness, observances, and education aimed at ending name-calling of all kinds.

Article: No Name-Calling Week: Cultivating Kindness and Playgrounds of Respect

The United Nations General Assembly designated January 27—the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau—as International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Website: United States Holocaust Museum

Resource: National School Counseling Week Activities and Materials

National School Counseling Week 2024 focuses public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. National School Counseling Week Highlights the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. The 2024 theme is "School Counseling: Standards-Based, Student-Focused.

We join our schools in saying THANK YOU to our incredible counselors across LCPS!

Website: National School Counseling Week

Lunar New Year is a celebration of the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year on the lunisolar calendar. It is the most important holiday in China, and it is also widely celebrated in South Korea, Vietnam, and countries with a significant overseas Chinese population. While the official dates encompassing the holiday vary by culture, those celebrating consider it the time of the year to reunite with immediate and extended family.

Website: National Geographic Lunar New Year

February 14-17: Virginia Kindness Week

Virginia Kindness Week recognizes the simple day-to-day acts of kindness that enable our schools, communities, and state to be a kinder, safer, healthier and more inclusive place to live, work, learn and play. Ideas for how to promote kindness in your school community can be found at the link below. The Division of DEIA would love to hear from your school about how students are participating and showing kindness!

Website: VDOE Kindness Week

The World Day of Social Justice is an annual observance with the purpose of speaking up against social injustice and bringing together communities across the world. The observance of the day should contribute to the further consolidation of the efforts of the international community in poverty eradication, promotion of full employment and decent work, gender equity and access to social well-being and justice for all.

Website: United Nations World Day of Social Justice

Schools are encouraged to engage students and communities in celebrating the cultural dates and events that reflect the school’s families and community. We invite schools to share how (and what) they are celebrating this January and February by sending an email to the Division of Equity email!

Students and families have been using their voices to advocate for their needs in meeting the requirements of their religion within school hours, which are needed throughout the year but come into particular focus as Ramadan approaches. School leaders have been working alongside students to establish rooms and times for prayer or mindfulness. DEIA will be leading a work group with principals to brainstorm ways in which they can and have met with the challenges of space and respectful supervision while also meeting the needs students and parents have identified.

We look forward to hosting our annual in-person Student Equity Ambassadors meeting on January 24. Student representatives from all of our LCPS secondary schools will be sharing their experiences and learning from other ambassadors.

The Department of DEIA is committed to visiting, supporting, and collaborating with schools! Below are some visuals and descriptions of just a few of the visits and school collaborations over the past months.

Middle School Listening Visits: SEL, FACE & DEIA are collaborating to gather insights from middle school students about their experiences in Advisory blocks, their feelings about connection to school, and their sense of belonging. Our goals are to make advisory more meaningful and to support schools as they address absenteeism and learning environments.

Several schools are partnering with DEIA in fostering and developing the work of their Equity Leads and Equity Committees to focus on the culture of the school, leverage and amplify student voice, and respond with actions to the needs of the students and families. Some examples include infusing learning and structures into professional learning for staff, providing time, value, and space for student feedback, identifying goals and outcomes based on student needs, and equipping teachers and students with skills to act in ways that proactively and responsively both lead to and sustain a welcoming, inclusive, and affirming environment.

Schools can receive the “No Place for Hate” designation through this ADL program. It supports the development of a student-led and school-based program by providing personalized opportunities for reflection, education, and learning. Reach out for additional resources or support!

• Website: www.noplaceforhate.org

• Resources: Steps to Becoming a No Place for Hate Campus

On November 7, 2023, licensed employees participated in this year’s session on Centering Equity in Instruction: Pathways to Access, Opportunity and Knowledge. This learning was a collaborative effort from the Divisions of DEIA, English Language Learners, and Special Education, and all content areas contributed resources so that participants had ready-to-implement strategies. Each school’s facilitation team was given freedom to personalize the session to reflect the school’s work, community, and goals. A make-up session was provided on December 11.

• By the numbers:

• 4,453 participants filled out the post presentation survey

• Participants had high praise for their school facilitators and the work they did to connect the content to their school’s needs, culture, practices and ongoing learning.

• The strategies for providing Access, Opportunity, and Knowledge proved the most popular element of the session (86%).

• The majority of participants (80%) felt the session supported their practices related to VDOE Evaluation Standard 6.

As a division, we are focusing on ensuring that we are creating welcoming and affirming environments for each & every student to receive a rigorous and relevant education in Loudoun County Public Schools. As we all work toward adding practices that further encourage, inclusive design practices offer a way to incorporate these concepts into instruction:

How might any of these ideas or strategies allow students to bring themselves into instruction and share prior knowledge?

Resource Link!

REFLECT: How might this activity allow students to bring themselves into instruction and share prior knowledge?

Resource Link!

Feel free to reach out to us to be thought partners and to work alongside and collaborate with you.

We can:

• Support Equity Committees, structures and processes

• Develop and share resources, ideas, and professional learning

• Provide sustained support through cycles of coaching, implementation, and reflection

• Amplify student voice, student appreciation, and celebration of identity and culture

The earlier, the better! We’ve found that collaboration and support is most efficient and productive through full partnership and toward the beginning of the process. Reach out whenever you have questions or might want to collaborate!

Cynthia Lewis, Cynthia.Lewis@lcps.org, Supervisor

Shahid Muhammad, Shahid.Muhammad@lcps.org, Supervisor

Also, be sure to visit the Division of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Webpage for more information.