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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

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."
  • The school's virtual academic enrichment camp had a class called "Racial Exclusion in Twentieth-Century America," which examined "select experiences of nonwhite Americans to understand race relations, racial attitudes, and systemic racism."
  • 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."
Faculty/Staff Requirements
  • 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."
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 released a report titled "Building a Pathway to Inclusive Communities," which recommended the creation of an Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Global Education.
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."
Last updated July 26th, 2022
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