PS 295 Equity & Inclusion

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The PS 295 DEI Committee is made up of school staff and interested adults from our school families.  It meets monthly over Zoom for both purposeful discussion and meaningful action, and asks for a yearlong commitment starting in September. 

In addition, the DEI team hosts monthly Community Forums over zoom, where everybody in the community can attend (even without ongoing commitment). These forums are a way to hear what is going on and to provide feedback/ask questions. 

Youth Equity Council: Two upper grade students from our school attend monthly District 15 Youth Equity Council meetings, sharing ideas with other schools in the district while growing their leadership skills.

Please reach out to Vanessa Gonzalez Ueoka (Vanesita@me.com) or Doug Hecklinger (dhecklinger@ps295.org) if you would like to learn more.

Part of our work focuses on including windows and mirrors for our community.

This is guided by New York state’s Culturally Responsive and Sustaining Curriculum Guide. 

Culturally Responsive-Sustaining Education

The DOE uses an educational strategy that embraces students’ identities. We call it “culturally responsive-sustaining education (CR-SE).” It is a way of seeing diversity as a source of knowledge.

With CR-SE, students use their own identity to get education. They learn using aspects of their race, social class, gender, language, sexual orientation, nationality, religion, or ability.

Studies show that students learning with CR-SE are more active in class. They graduate more often, with better grades. Their self-esteem improves, and they become better citizens.

New York City is a diverse and inspiring city. But it, like much of America, is rife with bias and inequality. We want to give students mirrors that reflect the greatness of who their people are, and windows into the world that allow students to connect across cultures.

To give all students both windows and mirrors, we will adopt a culturally responsive approach throughout all major policy areas.

We use these resources to help guide our work: