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Buckingham Browne & Nichols School

Private K-12 School

Mailing Address
80 Gerrys Landing Road
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138
Phone
(617) 547-6100
Email address
admission@bbns.org
School Information
"BB&N engages boys and girls from Beginners (pre-K) through grade 12 in a rich and invigorating educational experience of the highest quality, opening their minds to new possibilities while providing outstanding preparation for the next steps of their lives." The school enrolls over 1,000 students, has a 5.9 to 1 student-faculty ratio in the upper school, and offers "core, college-preparatory subjects plus electives" in the upper school. (Source: https://www.bbns.org/about/quick-facts) (Source: https://www.bbns.org/academics/upper-school-academics)
General Information
Based on publicly available information, Buckingham Browne & Nichols School has not yet implemented critical race training requirements for its students. However, it has provided multiple resources for its students, faculty, and staff. For instance, the Upper School's Multiculturalism program teaches students to recognize "subtle racism." Additionally, the school has a "White Awareness and Accountability Group (WAaAG)" where "White faculty to learn about and address whiteness, white fragility, white privilege, and white supremacy."

Actions Taken

Anti-Racism, Bias, and Diversity Training
  • The DEIG office has provided professional development opportunities, including "SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity)" and the "White Awareness and Accountability Group (WAaAG)" where "White faculty to learn about and address whiteness, white fragility, white privilege, and white supremacy."
Curriculum Changes and Requirements
  • The Upper School's Multiculturalism program teaches students to recognize "subtle racism, as well as other inequities caused by class, gender, or religion, which exist in every community and throughout the world."
  • Through the B-12 Identity Development, "DEI is integrated into student life through project-based learning in the classroom, student-led clubs, and cross-campus conferences."
  • The Lower School (K-6) utilizes "anti-bias curricula and enriching project-based learning."
  • According to the 2024-2025 program guide, one of the skills developed in the 8th-grade history curriculum is "recognizing bias and perspective." The curriculum covers "Colonial America case studies of power, race, wealth and religion" and "acknowledging land rights" of Indigenous Nations. The required reading includes the book "Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You."
  • The school is committed to "equitable learning" which is evident through its "leveraging anti-racist, anti-bias, culturally responsive pedagogy and practices that provide equitable learning opportunities for all community members."
Program and Research Funding
  • The school's virtual academic enrichment camp had a program called "Racial Exclusion in Twentieth-Century America," which examined "select experiences of nonwhite Americans to understand race relations, racial attitudes, and systemic racism."
  • Through the school's effort to "become a more inclusive institution" it "has focused on making a BB&N education more accessible to families and students with diverse backgrounds." The school stated that the Directors of Financial Aid "have been committed to creating an equitable and diverse student community at BB&N since before the current DEIG Office." The work is evident through "BB&N's annual commitment to financial aid" which topped $11.5 million in 2024. The same year, 24% of students received "some level of financial aid."
Resources
  • The Alumni/ae of Color Network is a space to "help strategize and support the implementation of anti-racist/anti-oppression and restorative justice work at BB&N."
  • In April 2021, the school hosted a "Centering BIPOC Voices" event. The event description reads, "Our intent is to continue uplifting the voices of our BIPOC community in a predominantly white institution and provide a forum to discuss BB&N's journey to becoming an antiracist institution."
  • The school hosted "two virtual common spaces for alumni/ae." One was the "Black/African American Affinity Space," while the other was "an Open Space."
  • The school established an "Office for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Global Education (DEIG)." The office is "committed to anti-racist, anti-bias, culturally responsive pedagogy" and "individual and communal examination of our position, power, and privilege."
  • In 2021, the school held a webinar for faculty and students to learn about anti-racism. The school librarian,  Dominique-Pierre, who organized the event stated, "I wanted to create an opportunity for students to interact with women who are still a part of the social justice endeavors—as it relates to racial justice, as it relates to cultural justice, as it relates to environmental justice.” The webinar featured Angela Davis and Nikki Giovanni.
  • In the 2024-2025 Planning Guide, the Upper School (high school) features many courses that focus on themes of race, gender, and sexuality through a lens of "anti-racism," "anti-bias," and "culturally responsive pedagogy." This includes classes on history, literature, and social sciences.
Symbolic Actions
  • Head of school sent a message in June 2020, which partly reads, "This anti-racist, anti-oppression work is THE most important challenge facing us to position the coming generations for better lives...Now more than ever, it is clear that every institution needs to put racial equity and anti-racist action at the center of their work, and to do so in partnership with community members outside their walls."
  • The school released a report titled "Building a Pathway to Inclusive Communities," which recommended the creation of an Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Global Education.
  • The school states that it "strives to foster an inclusive learning environment" and that it prepares "students to engage with the world’s complexities, empowering them to become responsible global citizens committed to social justice."  
Last updated March 10th, 2025
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