December 6, 2016
Dear ARMS Parents/Guardians,
As I mentioned in my recent
December newsletter to families, we are making every effort, everyday to make
our classrooms and our school safe and affirming for each student, so our
teaching and learning can thrive. Despite our greatest efforts, we know there
are times when we fall short. My hope is that most students, most of the time
feel safe in our school, but we know there are too many moments where this is not
the case for all students.
Recent incidents at ARMS. I recently learned of some anti-Semitic incidents
here at ARMS, and we responded immediately. It was essential to address the
incidents to the entire school community, because we have evidence that there
was not one single, isolated event that occurred with a specific student.
Rather, the incidents occurred in various forms with a number of different
students in the form of comments, so-called jokes and display of symbols.
Assemblies on Dec 5, 2016. We responded by holding two “class meetings” or
small assemblies with each grade Dec 5, 2016. The power point presentation
attached here served as a guide for a group discussion that I facilitated.
Superintendent Mike Morris also visited our assembly. In each assembly, I led a
discussion with the students on the topics of Bullying, Harassment and
anti-Semitism. The power point does not capture all the rich discussion of the
student's participation and questions, but it provides you with an outline and
the overall framework of the group dialogue.
Follow-up curriculum. Throughout the week, all ARMS students will be
engaged in curriculum to learn about the history of anti-Semitism and how to
combat it. We are using resources from the Anti-Defamation league and other
vetted educational organizations, which we are adapting for our ARMS
classrooms. Here is a link to one resource we are drawing upon for some lessons
this week. http://www.adl.org/assets/pdf/education-outreach/curriculum-connections-summer-2006-ms-hs-lesson.pdf Some teams
will be studying this in Advisory periods, and others will be completing it
during social studies classes.
Wide-ranging problem. This is not a
problem of specific classroom, team, or grade; this is a wider social problem
that we need to address directly through explicit anti-bias education, with the
strong message that ARMS is a space of safety and affirmation of diversity and
intolerant of bias and oppression. Any incidents of bias – whether the
intention is humor or threatening – needs to be interrupted with firm clarity.
Teaching about the deep-seated history of oppressions, and our current role in
social responsibility in a democratic society helps middle school students
understand the context in which we learn about these ideas.
The explicit role of Anti-bias Curriculum. Education in traditional literacy and numeracy is not
enough to combat hate and cultivate civility. We need to explicitly teach
anti-bias education. Anti-Semitism and oppression of other groups has a long
history and occurs throughout the world and across time periods with and
without opportunities of formal education. In our assembly, the students
mentioned World War II Germany as a prominent example. While this is certainly
a stark and enduring example that we never want to forget, we also noted that
small, personal aggressions in contemporary times are significant as well. This
makes the case for our current focus on anti-bias education, as well as looking
at that history. For example, in the early 20th century Germany was a highly
educated population. Accomplishments
such as the music of Ludwig van Beethoven, philosophy of Georg Wilhelm
Friedrich Hegel, poetry of Johann Ludwig Uhland, the art of German
Expressionism and other evidence of a formally educated population pervaded the
German cultural landscape before Adolf Hitler was elected in 1934. Without
over-simplifying the confluence of events that created Nazi power, it is fair
to say that the population was highly educated in the formal sense, but not in
anti-bias education perspectives.
Constant reminders for all students and all groups. Even with our tenacious commitment to equity and
civility, and our daily dedication with our students, these incidents at this
moment are a clear reminder that we always have more work to do. It is possible
for these actions to occur in just about any location among any group of
students. I explained to students that right now, we are focusing on combating
anti-Semitism, and that we know oppression can be targeted at many groups
across lines of human difference, including: race, ethnicity, immigration
status, social-class or poverty, language, sexual orientation, age,
ability/disability, national origin and more. Other groups may be targeted at
various times with bigoted and oppressive remarks and/or actions. We will not wait
for that to happen.
Middle school youth and vulnerability. The middle school stage of development known as early
adolescence is a critical time to develop responsibility for one’s own actions
and develop a sense of solidarity with and empathy for those who may be
vulnerable. We ask you as parents/guardians to collaborate with us to help
guide your youngsters through this era of complex and competing messages in the
national climate. Given the susceptible nature of middle school students, we
pay close attention to their social-emotional health while teaching them about
their individual and collective responsibility in society.
Ongoing work.
A great deal of research demonstrates that acts of aggression and oppression
are on the rise across the United States since the presidential election, and some
of it is anti-Semitic in nature. We will
continue to develop and implement specific anti-bias curriculum that actively
combats oppression and bigotry in all forms. This is essential to prepare our
all students for full participation in a democratic society. Our children’s
academic achievement will not be useful if they are constrained by civil rights
violations.
Thank you for your support. Please contact me by email at bodep@arps.org, phone 413-362-1800, or meeting
in person if you have questions, concerns or contributions to our collective,
shared work in the education of our children.
Sincerely,
Patty Bode
