St. George’s School

On June 15, 2020, St. George's Head of School discussed the school's "test optional" admissions policy which would "make our admission policies more equitable by addressing the documented racial and socioeconomic biases associated with standardized testing."

There are ongoing efforts to "identify and implement recruiting and admission approaches that increase racial diversity across the socioeconomic spectrum," according to the 2024-2027 Equity and Inclusion Plan,

On June 15, 2020, the school outlined its many diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives including: "Expanding our anti-bias training for new faculty, staff, and students to ensure that all community members practice inclusion, cultural understanding, and empathy across differences," and "Providing explicit training for all of our teachers to ensure that each is equipped with the skills necessary to effectively facilitate discussions about race and racism."

According to the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the school's Board of Trustees is one of "very few boarding schools with a specific board committee — the Diversity and Inclusion Committee." In addition, "a full board training in the area of diversity and inclusion took place in the winter of 2019."

On June 15, 2020, the school outlined its many diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives including: "Auditing our curriculum to promote multicultural literacy; to guarantee representation of Black authors, researchers, and academics; and to develop understanding around racial inequalities, systemic injustice, and the social effects of racism," and "developing curricula for students that grows their cultural competency skills; and inspiring our entire community to increase their cross-cultural understanding and build relationships with people different from themselves."

The school's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion describes its "Student Programming" initiatives. From 2006-2014, the Director of Equity and Inclusion "organized and oversaw [the] multicultural curriculum and workshops, an annual requirement for all [the] students." In the Community Life Program in 2014, a "diversity portion of that curriculum," was developed. Through the program, "students develop a common language around race, gender and other areas of diversity, and then gain experience and understanding in a variety of topics including the history of social justice, unearned privilege, media literacy, and implicit bias."

According to the 2024-2027 Equity and Inclusion Plan, supporting the "integration of pedagogy and curricula to promote civil discourse" is a 2024-2025 priority. It also has an ongoing initiative to "develop and monitor standards related to the overall inclusivity of [the] curriculum and pedagogical practices."

On June 15, 2020, the school outlined its many diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives including "Reviewing our student handbook, The Shield, to confirm that racist behavior is unequivocally banned by the school and that there are specific procedures in place to address any such incidents."

On June 15, 2020, the school outlined its many diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives including "requiring ongoing diversity training for our faculty, staff, administrators, and trustees."

According to the 2020-2023 DEI Strategic Plan, St. George requires "faculty, staff, administrators, and trustees [to] actively develop their cross-cultural competencies." Faculty and staff are also required to "seek to understand their own implicit biases and incorporate that understanding into their work on behalf of the school."

According to the 2024-2027 Equity and Inclusion Plan, the school's priorities for 2024-2025 include training "faculty on ways to promote civil discourse through pedagogy and curricular choices." Ongoing initiatives include developing "programming and faculty training to promote the teaching and learning of civil discourse skills."

According to the 2024-2027 Equity and Inclusion Plan, the board continuing "to participate in ongoing equity and inclusion training" is a priority for the 2024-2025 school year. There are also ongoing efforts to "identify and implement strategies to further diversify the faculty and Board of Trustees."

According to the 2024-2027 Equity and Inclusion Plan, there is an ongoing initiative to "strengthen employee-wide professional growth model with an eye towards equity and inclusion training and expectation."

Regarding giving and the endowment, the school seeks "additional gifts for the endowment of financial aid to further the School's commitment to attracting students of diverse backgrounds, interests, and talents."  

According to the 2024-2027 Equity and Inclusion Plan, it is the school's priority to "develop funding and equitable approaches to provide greater access to all students."

The Building Bridges Program is a "reciprocatory [sic] recruitment and retention program strategically and practically aligned with St. George’s Schools’ Equity and Inclusion goals." The Program Objectives include "activate recruitment and retention strategies to attract and hire newly graduated educators of color."

On June 15, 2020, the school outlined its many diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives including "Hiring counselors, health center staff, and other student support faculty who are specifically trained to support students of color attending a predominantly white school."

The school published its 2020-2023 "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Strategic Plan" which outlines its many goals and strategies.

The school's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion links to its "Action" and "Strategic" Plans and profiles its Director, Dr. Kim Bullock.

The school's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion stated that in 2019, "we read three books as a faculty, including 'White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism' by Robin DeAngelo; 'The Privileged Poor' by Anthony Jack; and 'Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Strategies for Facilitating Conversations on Race' by Caprice Hollins and Ilsa Gowan." In addition, in 2020, faculty members organized and hosted "two book discussion groups, one focusing on 'How to Be an Antiracist' by Ibram X Kendi, and the second on 'We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom' by Bettina Love."

According to the school's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, in 2020, "we were to host The Institute for Teaching Diversity and Social Justice, an experiential summer professional development program for educators and other individuals interested in building more inclusive and affirming classrooms through exploration and development of strategies and skills to effectively navigate diversity issues in independent schools. Though the program was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we hope to host the conference in 2021."

On June 15, 2020, St. George's Head of School issued a letter to the school community and stated, "Over the course of the past few weeks, our nation and our community have continued to grapple with the ongoing effects of our legacy of systemic racism and injustice. I wrote to you two weeks ago to express our collective outrage and despair at the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and to acknowledge that here in our community we are not immune to racism and its devastating effects."

St. George's School has adopted a "Diversity Statement" that reaffirms it "values diversity." The statement continues, "This inclusive approach [to education] helps to foster a welcoming, supportive and healthy residential community that embraces differences and promotes genuine respect for each individual."