Core Values - Berkshire School

Berkshire is guided by six core values that shape our educational philosophy and community life: curiosity, integrity, respect, inclusion, perseverance, and resilience. These principles are deeply embedded in our school's mission to cultivate character, citizenship, and a commitment to excellence across academics, the arts, and athletics.

Curiosity

To question, to explore, to discover, to learn about oneself and others, and to embrace new experiences, not just for school but for life.

Integrity

To be honest and accountable to oneself and to others, to trust and be trusted, to be disciplined and responsible, in all academic pursuits and in all relationships.

Respect

To respect oneself and others, one's place and surroundings, to consider intent and impact, and to act in ways that demonstrate empathy and understanding.

Inclusion

To understand and learn from differences, to welcome open exchange of ideas, and to create safe and affirming communities that value every person.

Perseverance

To be steadfast in the face of challenge or obstacle, to rise above the mistakes and failures, and to see things through to completion.

Resilience

To set a new direction in response to changing circumstances, to manage and adapt to adversity, and to bounce back and regain one's footing with confidence and purpose.

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Strategic Plan

Below are the strategic priorities along with the action steps and metrics to ensure our School's accountability.

INCREASE ENDOWMENTS

Strategic Priority 1: Increase endowments to ensure and support our most diverse community of adults and students.

Action Steps

1. Develop and articulate a clear message to potential donors about the critical importance of diversity and inclusion at Berkshire.

2. Cultivate fundraising support for students through Financial Aid and the Alden Fund.

3. Cultivate fundraising support for faculty and staff in compensation, professional development, and diversity and inclusion programming.

4. Engage a more diverse group of adults in our community to provide additional support to students beyond financial aid.

Metrics and Accountability

1. Measure all engagement and fundraising messaging against the School’s Mission Statement and Diversity and Inclusion Mission Statement.

2. The Strategic Priority Committee recommends that Berkshire strives to meet the NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) benchmark of increasing its financial aid commitment by 5% annually, beginning in 2020.

3. The Strategic Priority Committee recommends that Berkshire strives to meet the NAIS benchmark of increasing its faculty endowments (and/or support of faculty) by 5% annually beginning in 2020.

4. Parent and alumni “ambassador” positions established prior to the start of the 2020-21 school year.

RECRUIT AND RETAIN

Strategic Priority 2: Recruit and retain a more diverse student body, faculty and staff, administration, and board of trustees.

Action Steps

1. Continue to expand admission recruitment territories, both domestic and international, to include new markets that support increased student diversity.

2. Continue to identify, recruit, and cultivate families of color, including those with resources to afford a Berkshire education.

3. Identify and recruit students from a more diverse group of public and independent schools.

4. Increase salary, benefits, and compensation for all faculty and staff, with special focus for faculty and staff of diverse backgrounds. [Benchmarked against ABOPS 20 salary data]

5. Engage HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) and HSI (Hispanic-Serving Institutions) to recruit new faculty and staff.

6. Increase the diversity of the board of trustees across all identities.

7. Establish a graduate school partnership(s) with Berkshire to recruit a more diverse faculty and to support their professional development while at Berkshire; e.g. Brown M.A.T. (Master of Arts in Teaching), Mount Holyoke M.A.T., Dartmouth M.A.L.S. (Master of Arts in Liberal Studies), etc.

Metrics and Accountability

1,2,3. Quantify and track the demographic diversity of students, faculty and staff, administration, and board with people of color to reflect at least 25% of these respective groups. Further, the Strategic Priority Committee recommends that Berkshire strive to increase our domestic students of color to 20%. [Harvard Graduate School of Education “Critical-Mass Theory” research]

4. Utilize NEMNET (New England Minority Network) or similar teacher placement agencies benchmarks to inform our salary setting for faculty/staff of color. Initiate a longitudinal retention study for faculty/staff of color, appointed over 2014-2019, and compared against NAIS and TABS (The Association of Boarding Schools) standards.

5. Associate HOS, Dean of Faculty, and Hiring Committee to track these visits annually.

6. The Strategic Priority Committee recommends that trustees of color represent at least 25% of the board. In addition, diversity across all identities (race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic, religion, age, and ability) should be quantified and tracked annually as well. The Strategic Priority Committee recommends consideration of a young alumnus/a of color trustee position(s) to support this diversity effort.

7. New graduate school partnership(s) established prior to the start of the 2022-23 school year.

DESIGN AND LEADERSHIP

Strategic Priority 3: Empower students from diverse backgrounds to share in the design and leadership of Berkshire’s community.

Action Steps

1. Invite student participation with appropriate standing committees to create opportunities for students to be heard, to provide input, and to feel that they can impact institutional change.

2. Include all identities represented in our student body in the design of academic assessment models, department curricula, and teaching practices.

3. Establish an alumni mentorship program that helps students partner with alumni mentors to support the student’s education at Berkshire and their life after Berkshire.

4. Require diversity and inclusion training for all student leaders. Encourage student participation in annual diversity and inclusion conferences, forums, and workshops.

Metrics and Accountability

1. The Strategic Priority Committee recommends that appropriate standing committees welcome student participation and input, beginning with the 2020-21 school year.

2. Students to be included in Department Chair discussions which discuss/review academic assessment models, beginning with the 2019-20 school year. Consider using student feedback through existing Panorama survey tool to annually gather supporting data and to provide an avenue for student input around curricular changes.

3. Establishment of a formal alumni mentorship program to start the 2020-21 school year.

4. Continue climate survey for all students each spring to measure the impact and progress of the School’s diversity and inclusion programming, training, and school culture.

CURRICULUM, PEDAGOGY, AND ASSESSMENT

Strategic Priority 4: Ensure that our academic curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment models are multicultural and diverse in perspective and scope.

Action Steps

1. Conduct a formal review, by academic department, of current curricular offerings to identify opportunities to enhance existing multicultural offerings or to implement new programs or offerings.

2. Engage Department Chairs on these initiatives; require training for best practices of diversity and inclusion; provide professional development funding and time.

3. Explore the introduction of a global initiatives program, with dedicated faculty responsibilities, to facilitate global opportunities, elective offerings, and/or global competencies throughout the curriculum.

Metrics and Accountability

1. All academic departments continue to study and measure their annual progress in incorporating diversity and inclusion practices into their teaching and curriculum. Using the recent 2018-19 review, implement changes for the 2019-20 school year and with 2020-21 course offerings.

2. Require summer 2020 diversity and inclusion training for all Department Chairs.

3. The Strategic Priority Committee recommends establishing a global initiatives program, with job description for the position created to support 2020-21 hiring.

LISTEN, COMMUNICATE, AND ENGAGE

Strategic Priority 5: Cultivate institutional trust, guided by our core values, to listen, communicate, and engage across cultural, ethnic, and racial divides.

Action Steps

1. Create engagement and programs that bring all members of our community together and highlight the full diversity of our community.

2. Create affinity group meeting spaces and time around all facets of diversity and identity.

3. Ensure that visiting speakers reflect the full diversity of our community.

4. Require ongoing diversity and inclusion training for all faculty and for all staff leadership positions.

5. Continue to conduct an annual climate survey, taken by all members of the community in the spring of each year, to measure and track progress in supporting our most inclusive community.

Metrics and Accountability

1. Schedule these programs on a comprehensive school calendar shared with the full community each year.

2. Develop an internal outline and calendar, approved annually by the administration, for affinity groups, their meeting times and spaces.

3. Utilize the For Life Committee to develop a comprehensive annual calendar for visiting speakers to ensure a full diversity of messages and presentations. Share this with the full internal community early in each school year, beginning with 2019-20.

4. Develop a menu of professional development opportunities in diversity and inclusion with participation in at least one required of all faculty and of all staff leadership positions in their first 3-4 years of employment at Berkshire and at ongoing intervals going forward. Possible programs to include: SEED (Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity), NAIS Diversity Leadership Institute, POCC (People of Color Conference), Diversity Directions, Deepening the Discussion about Race, etc.

5. Measured and tracked over time with annual reporting to the full community.

DEI Alumni Council

Affinity Groups

Affinity Groups bring together people who have a common identifier involving race, gender, religion, family structure, sexuality, etc. and are for students who identify as a member of that group. They are spaces where people can be their authentic selves so that everyone has a sense of belonging.

Latin American Student Association

White Anti-Racist Group

Muslim Affinity Group

Pan-Asian Affinity Group

LGBTQIA+ Affinity Group

Black Student Union

Jewish Affinity Group

Trailblazers

Trailblazers is a mentorship and orientation program for incoming BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) students. Our initiative is designed to support new BIPOC students to become acclimated to the community. New Trailblazers will connect with student mentors and learn how to access the services and resources they need to successfully navigate a residential academic setting and predominantly white institution.

SEED

SEEKING EDUCATIONAL EQUITY AND DIVERSITY (SEED)

The National SEED Project^SM is a peer-led professional development program that creates conversational communities to drive personal, organizational, and societal change toward greater equity and diversity. Through the organization's methodology, SEED equips participants to connect their lives to one another and to society at large by acknowledging systems of oppression, power, and privilege.

To date, more than 200 students, faculty, and staff at Berkshire School have participated in SEED. Student and faculty/staff-led seminars are held during the school year on a month basis. Since students and adults meet together, students are able to offer clear perspectives in a space in which they have mutual standing with adults.

SEED alumni also meet throughout the year to consider current challenges, develop programs, and support diversity, equity, and inclusion work on the campus, and beyond.