Bloomington Montessori Cultural Equity Commitment Statement

Bloomington Montessori commits to championing policies and practices of cultural equity that empower a just, inclusive, equitable world to support a community of diverse and empowered citizen learners that care for themselves, each other, and the Earth.

DEFINITION OF CULTURAL EQUITY
Cultural equity embodies the values, policies, and practices that ensure that all people—including but not limited to those who have been historically underrepresented based on race/ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, socioeconomic status, geography, citizenship status, or religion—are represented in the development of policy; the support of children; the nurturing of accessible, thriving Montessori learning environments; and the fair distribution of programmatic, financial, and informational resources.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS & AFFIRMATIONS

  • In the United States, systems of power grant privilege and access unequally such that inequity and injustice result, and that must be continuously addressed and changed.
  • Cultural equity is critical to effective education and nurturing children to become empowered and informed global citizens.
  • We must all hold ourselves accountable because acknowledging and challenging our inequities and working in partnership is how we will make change happen.
  • Everyone deserves equal access to high-fidelity Montessori education and the hope for a better tomorrow that it brings.

MODELING ACTION
To provide informed, authentic leadership for cultural equity, we strive to…

  • Pursue cultural consciousness throughout our organization through substantive learning and formal, transparent policies.
  • Acknowledge and dismantle any inequities within our policies, systems, programs, and services, and report organization progress.
  • Commit time and resources to expand more diverse leadership within our board, staff, committees, and advisory bodies.

FUELING PROGRESS
To pursue needed systemic change related to equity, we strive to…

  • Encourage substantive learning to build cultural consciousness and to proliferate pro-equity policies and practices as an organization and within our classrooms.
  • Improve cultural leadership through organizational education and support of the development of leaders that reflect the full breadth of society.
  • Generate and aggregate quantitative and qualitative research related to equity to make incremental, measurable progress toward cultural equity more visible.