Mount Madonna School is committed to providing an inclusive and equitable learning environment. This is an inherent core value of our school. As a diverse community of learners, we believe that an inclusive and equitable education system is critical in unlocking the full potential of each and every student, faculty and staff member at Mount Madonna School.
What we have learned in over 40 years is that we cannot have equity without inclusion. We also recognize that creating an equitable and inclusive school is an iterative process. We are committed to engaging in this important work in several ways:
- By continually exploring the ways in which teaching and learning are used to bring awareness of unjust and harmful systems of oppression, and how they can also be used to help develop empathy and compassion
- Exploring the structural ways that Mount Madonna School can actively support equity and inclusion
- Helping our students and ourselves reflect on our own knowledge and experience of race, color, ancestry, culture, religion, ability status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and socioeconomics
- Focusing on developing behaviors, forms of communication, and relationships that reinforce our commitment to equity and inclusion
- Dismantling conditions that prevent everyone from inhabiting the educational space, and feeling seen, heard, and valued
Equity is generally defined as “fairness.” At Mount Madonna School this means that students can access the same quality education regardless of their socioeconomic status, race, gender or other facets of their identity. Because of Mount Madonna’s small class sizes, teachers are able to provide individualized support to each student and strive to see them as their authentic selves.
We are constantly learning and improving as our world evolves. Our ultimate goal is that each individual who enters our gates is embraced for who they are, treated with humanity and dignity, and supported on their journey. This includes, and is not limited to, the academic, social, emotional, as well as spiritual, religious, and ethical dimensions of human life.
Below are some of the active steps that we are taking to realize the goals that we have set out for ourselves.
- We provide financial support to more than half of our student body
- We are committed to providing student and family education
- We have an active, student led, Gay-Straight Alliance club. The club’s mission is to pursue the betterment of our school and greater community by creating a safe space for the LGBTQI+ community
- We have a parent education committee that organizes or partners with other organizations to provide educational opportunities for our parent community
- We have an Equity and Inclusion Committee made up of faculty, staff, administration, parent, board and alumni voices
- We are committed to incorporating the voices of our students in all that we do. We will invite our upper school students to review and discuss our mission and values at the start of each year. We are also in the process of establishing a Student Climate Committee
- We are doing an equity and inclusion audit of our Pre/K-12 curriculum and incorporating the social justice standards from the Teaching Tolerance anti-bias framework
- We are committed to continual faculty and staff professional development that supports our equity and inclusion goals. To date, we have worked with https://www.genderspectrum.org and http://www.enidlee.com
Mount Madonna School, 2020-21
- 56% of students receive some form of financial assistance
- Over $1 million in financial assistance awarded this year
- 35% students of color
- Students come from Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Clara counties
