The Wheeler School

On May 19, 2021, the school published its "Summary of Actions Taken 20-21 and Next Steps for 21-22" which includes the following "Enrollment" actions: "Analyzed grade-level demographics to identify and strive to address situations in which a student is the only identifying individual of their racial or ethnic heritage in their grade level" and "Develop enrollment office strategies for 21-22 to increase targeted outreach in various communities of color in our region."

On May 19, 2021, the school published its "Summary of Actions Taken 20-21 and Next Steps for 21-22" which includes the following action: "Integrated professional development into every division with specific focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging (DEIB) in the context of teaching and learning and our students."

On February 25, 2022, the school's Director of Unity and Diversity stated, "Celebrating diversity and belonging remain at the core of what we do. It’s also a key part of our larger WHeeLs [sic] curriculum, or Whole Life Seminar, which covers a range of social-emotional wellness areas–from health, to diversity, to community engagement, and technology–that helps prepare our students for happy, fruitful, and engaged lives." The Director went on to say that "Essentially, my role is to support the Wheeler community in developing and maintaining inclusive, anti-racist, and equitable practices."

The school's "Diversity Education Program" is about "having respect for others, regardless of age, gender, race, ability, sexual orientation, economic status or religion." The program curriculum "utilizes texts and materials that give voice to those people and perspectives previously unheard and includes sensitivity on the part of our faculty, staff and administration to the circumstances that affect the lives of our students, families, and colleagues on a day-to-day basis."

On May 19, 2021, the school published its "Summary of Actions Taken 20-21 and Next Steps for 21-22" which includes the following actions: "Complete the three-year implementation plan for our N-12 WHEELS (Whole Life Seminar) curriculum, integrating social-emotional learning, DEIB [Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging], and health and wellness into one course focused on identity, dialogue, empathy and courage" and "Conduct a full review of the Unity and Diversity course curriculum and methods."

The Upper-School (9-12) program utilizes "an intentional curriculum [that] focuses on diversity, equity and inclusion, health and wellness, metacognition and social-emotional learning."

The Lower School Unity & Diversity classes (for Grades 4 & 5) "help students make the connection between social capital/personal privilege and systemic privilege and empower them to practice inclusion, activism, and allyship."

In the Middle School (grades 6-8) students take the "Whole Life Seminar," which is a class that incorporates "elements of Health, Unity & Diversity, and Technology."

According to the 2024-2025 Upper School Course Book, the Whole Life Seminar focuses on "increasing DEI & SSI awareness" and "becoming active anti-racist citizens." The curriculum teaches students "to examine privilege, preconceptions, and understanding of different people" and "As students mature, they have opportunities to grapple with more advanced issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging."

According to a 2024-2025 Back to School letter, "the Unity & Diversity curriculum at Wheeler is developed with individual grade and age-appropriate information and approaches to the core concept of recognizing, discussing, and having respect for all socially significant identities (age, gender, gender identity, race, ability, sexual orientation, economic status, or religion)." Furthermore, the Office of Unity & Diversity "develops programs, initiatives, and curriculum across all divisions and provides ample opportunities for candid dialogue which will further strengthen unity within our diversity through the lens of social justice."

The 2024-2025 Back to School Letter from the Director of Unity and Diversity, outlined DEI plans for the coming year. The letter includes a "White Privilege Conference," the "AISNE Diversity Conference," and "Wheeler Adults Involved in Cultural Awareness." Furthermore, it stated, "faculty and staff engage in ongoing professional development opportunities in the area of multicultural teaching and learning, and in cultivating and maintaining a multicultural community."

The Office of Unity & Diversity ensures "all faculty and staff engage in ongoing professional development opportunities on campus and at both regional and national conferences." The focus of professional development is the "areas of multicultural teaching and learning, anti-bias teaching, teaching with an equity lens, and cultivating and maintaining a multicultural community."

An 8th-grade student's project for the 2023 Transform Rhode Island Scholarship (TRIS) program was selected "to connect elementary schools across the state to non-profit cultural organizations through interactive seminars." The student stated that she is "thankful to Wheeler for offering such a wonderful opportunity to its students and for having such passionate DEI efforts." The scholarship program invested $1 million to help make the student's "idea come to life," along with "a $25,000 scholarship from the foundation."

On April 1, 2021, the school announced that a "National DEI [Diversity, Equity, Inclusion] Expert" would be the keynote speaker at the 2021 Wheeler Diversity Conference for "area independent schools." The speaker, Ali Michael, Ph.D., is the co-founder and director of the "Race Institute for K-12 Educators" and the author of "Raising Race Questions: Whiteness, Inquiry and Education."

On April 1, 2021, the school published a link to the "Race Institute for Educators" website which is a "workshop for K-12 teachers, counselors and administrators of all races who want to better understand why race matters in schools." The institute is for educators who "want to build their skills and competencies to understand and challenge the racism around them — and in their own heads and hearts." 

On May 19, 2021, the school published its "Summary of Actions Taken 20-21 and Next Steps for 21-22" which includes the following: "Establish a clear restorative justice process focusing on learning, reconciliation, and empathy."

On February 9, 2022, the organization "Parents Defending Education" reported that on February 7, 2022, "all Wheeler School students in grades 6, 7 and 8 received an email about actor and author Karyn Parsons coming to meet and talk with students of color." The email "explicitly stated that only those who 'identify as a student of color or multiracial' could join." (Parsons co-starred on NBC’s “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.")

On June 19, 2020, the school announced the creation of an "Equity Task Force" and stated, "We are grateful to those of you who have reached out during this time, across the generations at Wheeler, to talk with us, to share your stories, to express support to continue to push Wheeler to ensure that every child – Black and brown — is heard, known and seen." The announcement includes a picture of a "Black Lives Matter" banner created by "Art Department faculty members, students and others" for a "special Moment of Silence event in June [2020] after the death of George Floyd."

On June 1, 2020, Wheeler's Head of School issued a message to the school community titled "Repair The World" and stated, "Over these weeks, as we all note the passage of time as fuzzy and the foggy conditions making normal activities more tiresome, there have been a number of acts of racial violence stemming directly from our nation’s history of systemic racism, and promoted by some deafening silence and worse, promotion from bystanders."

In January 2024, Wheeler stated it "has a longstanding commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in our community."