When students are eager to learn, they understand that our differences are just as important as our similarities.
Black History Month Quilt Project
In honor of Black History Month, Lower and Upper School students collaborated to create a community quilt displaying messages of love, kindness, and inclusivity.
Students worked together to decide what message they wanted to display, either in words or visually, on their paper “quilt” square.
The RCS Black History Month quilt, now on display in Centennial Hall reflects the significance of the tradition of quilting in Black and African American culture.
Celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Rippowam Cisqua School is a community that encourages relationships that are free from bias, criticism, and judgment,” Marie Peña, Upper School DEI Coordinator, said. “We embrace diversity and inclusivity, and support our members in their development to be their authentic selves.”
Marie Peña and students from the CAFE (Cultural Awareness for Everyone) Club led a thoughtful assembly on Friday, January 13 to learn about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In addition to working on a Kindness and Respect chain project, this year, we launched our first sticker contest.
We had over 85 creative and thoughtful submissions. It was an opportunity for students to create symbols of our school’s warm and inviting environment.
Community Read: Being Heumann and Rolling Warrior
Curb breaks, elevators at metros and other public buildings, closed captioning, and so many other accessibility features are conveniences that we take for granted, but which are the result of years of dogged battles for disability rights. Last February, members of our community gathered together for a Community Read and had the chance to experience this struggle through the eyes of Judith Heumann.
Statement on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
Rippowam Cisqua School embraces and seeks the opportunity to engage meaningfully and purposefully with issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We recognize the common humanity of all people and teach understanding and respect for the differences among us. From the age-appropriate exploration of one’s own self-defining characteristics to the examination of topics and materials that contrast personal worldviews, Rippowam Cisqua School is committed to challenging each child and adult to foster greater empathy, understanding, and appreciation for their fellow humans.
As a school focused on the pursuit of joyous and enlightened learning, we believe in honoring every member of our community as both valued and essential to our collective growth. Cultural awareness is an essential component of an education that prepares our students for the global society in which they live, and we strive to graduate individuals who seek intellectual and personal connections with people of different backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives in the pursuit of the greater goal of making our society more empathetic, equitable, and just.
How We Support Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
The RCS community finds exponential value in bringing families together of diverse geographic, economic, and educational backgrounds, cultures, abilities, and beliefs. Every day we work to ensure that all children feel welcomed, cared for, and respected as unique individuals capable of anything to which they aspire. Then, we give them the tools and support to succeed along the way. Here are a few ways in which faculty and students strive for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at RCS.
Throughout the year, we invite guest speakers to provide insight and perspective to our students, faculty, and the broader community.
Dr. Mykee Fowlin: Psychologist, Performer, and Poet
Dr. Mykee Fowlin returned to RCS to talk about the value of promoting inclusive communities and celebrating unseen differences in individuals. Dr. Fowlin’s programs combine both his professional acting talents and his psychological training, which he uses in pursuit of his mission to create an atmosphere of worldwide inclusion, not just tolerance, of all people.
The Anti-Defamation League: Fighting Hate for Good
The Anti-Defamation League led interactive workshops with our seventh and eighth-graders as part of their A World of Difference program. The Institute's programs and resources are designed to help students:
recognize bias and the harm it inflicts on individuals and society
build understanding of the value and benefits of diversity
improve intergroup relations
confront racism, anti-Semitism and all other forms of bigotry
Lower School Community Partners Community Partners is a monthly gathering of all Lower Schoolers, during which small groups of students, faculty, and staff meet to create community and a sense of belonging. Activities alternate between those that build connections at school, like creating a wall of favorite and unique Thanksgiving foods, and those that celebrate diversity, like discussing how we might welcome someone to our school who is blind and then learning to write our names in Braille. Groups are arranged purposefully with children across grade levels so that students create strong, multi-age bonds, resulting in ebullient greetings by the youngest members as they see their new friends in the halls and on the playground. Most importantly, groups are arranged so that each child has other students with whom they share a commonality. This mirror could be race, visible or invisible disability, similarity in family structure, hometown, etc. The pairings are deliberate and yet not explained, so that throughout the year, there are so many wonderful moments of discovery. We have students who have bonded over a recent divorce, being a twin, having a parent who was born in the same part of the world, and languages spoken at home. Amidst these connections, unexpected bonds are formed over details that are most important to young children - having the same favorite color or the same kind of dog. Community Partners offers yet another space for kids to be themselves and to find others with whom they can connect. It is an important part of the strong fabric that makes our Lower School a place of belonging and joy.
Upper School With a culturally rich curriculum, students are exposed to a variety of perspectives through academics, Learning Immersion Days, co-curriculars, Allied Arts, guest speakers, C.A.F.E. (Cultural Awareness for Everyone), and our widely acclaimed Visiting Artists Series.
Building Lasting Connections Eighth-grade students from RCS and Memorial High School in West New York, New Jersey read The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas. After completing the novel, they met to discuss the book and their different life experiences. Given the vast difference in economic and racial backgrounds between the students, it was a unique opportunity to share perspectives and open dialogue about real-world topics.
Student Perspectives “The students from Memorial High came into the discussion and immediately joined in and shared their story, their perspective, and how they related to it. I thought that was really brave of them because I was even hesitant about sharing even in my own environment surrounded by people I know. The people in my group were awesome.” --Student ‘20
“I have enjoyed learning about a completely different community, events that occur, and the reactions that people have to these events. I think it’s necessary to read these types of books; it’s good to broaden your understanding and to dip into pools of discomfort. Hopefully, you benefit and create an understanding of these things that you may otherwise have not experienced.” --Student ‘20
Members of the DEIB Team, as well as faculty and staff, have attended a series of conferences and workshops to receive training and development on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.These include, but are not limited to:
Dalton Diversity Conference
Diversity Leadership Institute
Diversity Practitioners Conference
Holocaust and Human Behavior
NYSAIS Diversity Conference
People of Color Conference
The Knapsack Institute
Transgender Training Institute
White Privilege Symposium
IDSJ (Institute for Teaching Diversity and Social Justice)
NYSAIS Global Language and Culture Conference
Freedom Rising
Facing History and Ourselves
“But You're Wrong” – Strategies to lead and discuss challenging conversations
Afro-Latinos and Hair: An Identity Journey of the Past, the Present, and the Future
Gender-Inclusive Language in the World Language Classroom
The Color of Language - Centering the Student of Color in World Language Acquisition
Three times per year, the entire faculty, staff, and administration engage in interactive workshops that help RCS educators develop meaningful and beneficial ways to teach students with various needs and backgrounds. The RCS team works together to remove barriers to academic achievement, enrich the community experience, and develop stronger bonds among the students and their peers.
5-10-15 Minute Diversity and Inclusion Activities
Children and Identity through Explicit Classroom Discussion and Literature
Classroom Diversity and Inclusive Teaching
Connecting with Kids is Easy, but...
DEI Strategies
Discover Teaching Tolerance: A Guided (and Practical) Tour
Gender and Sexuality: How to Support the Students Who Might Not Know They Need It
Identity and Intersectionality: The Impacts of the Lenses We Wear
Identity Cards: Who Am I?
Microaggressions and Ask An Informal (Ignorant) Question
The Value of a Socio-Economically Diverse School Environment
Transgender 101: Understanding the Basics of Language, Affirmation, and How to Support Non-Binary and Genderqueer Students
The faculty book club was created in 2018 to facilitate difficult conversations and to cultivate deeper understanding with respect to cultural identifiers.
We have read the following books:
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehishi Coates
Real American by Julie Lythcott-Haims
George by Alex Gino
Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin
New Kid by Jerry Craft
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
We Move Together by Ann McGuire and Kelly Fritsch
Rolling Warrior: The Incredible, Sometimes Awkward, True Story of a Rebel Girl on Wheels Who Helped Spark a Revolution by Judith Heumann and Kristen Joiner
Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist byJudith Heumann and Kristen Joiner
Meet the Team
List of 5 members.
Ridley Sperling
Dir. of Secondary School Placement; Dir. of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging; Capstone Program Teacher
914-244-1257
Marie Pena
English Teacher, Assoc. Dir. of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging
Rippowam Cisqua School is a PreK-Grade 9 independent day school in Westchester County, New York. RCS offers challenging academics built on innovation, fine and performing arts, competitive athletics, wellness, leadership, service learning, and a wide selection of extracurricular activities.
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