About
Diversity and Inclusivity at SNACS: A Community That Cares
When SNACS was founded in 1999, our goal was simple: to bring the small school experience to our community. That cultural and economic diversity of that community is core to our school identity and one of our greatest sources of strength.
At SNACS, 46.73% of students come from families considered high-risk. We are dedicated to creating a welcoming, accepting, and equitable environment to support the learning of every single student. Students are taught by a dedicated, passionate group of educators—29% of whom identify as being of color—committed to making SNACS a safe learning space for everyone.
SNACS is dedicated to recruiting, cultivating, engaging, and encouraging a diverse and vibrant community of faculty, staff, and students. Diversity is valued as multivariate, intersectional, and complex to thrive in a global community of learners. A diverse population includes racial, ethnic, sexual, and gender identities; economic and geographic backgrounds; physical abilities; life, school, and career experiences; and political, religious, and personal beliefs. These and other important attributes reflect the complexity of our increasingly diverse student body, local community, and worldwide population.
There is inherent importance to value the education of all SNACS community members. We recognize the worth and value of each person bringing wealth with each unique attributes in race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, political views, immigration status, ability, socioeconomic status, and other identities or characteristics.
Diversity supports all learners and must be joined with equity, inclusion, and a sense of belonging for all members of our community. Including a diverse set of backgrounds and perspectives at SNACS is essential to engage in meaningful teaching and learning for a positive impact in the larger community.
We are committed to learning and supporting each other in our growth in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. We all share a responsibility to respect the rights, differences, and dignity of others. We strive to sustain an environment that fosters the highest potential of learning for all. At SNACS, we create the kind of community we wish to see in world around us.
We recognize achieving true diversity, equity, and inclusion requires ongoing work to analyze and reflect on patterns of behavior in practice. This involves ongoing qualitative and quantitative data analysis and changes to procedures, policies, and practices as a fluid force toward a diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization for staff, learning environment for students and families, and thriving community for all. (Adapted from the Harvard School of Education, 2021)
Diversity, equity, and inclusion promotes, develops and supports equitable practices and policies for a safe and inclusive school community system; additionally, we will provide assurance of access, representation and meaningful participation for all.
Equity means every student is provided the support and resources they individually need to accomplish the same end goal: graduation workforce development, college- and career-readiness. The end-goal for all students is the same, but the process to get there differs.
The recent national focus on standardized testing has illuminated the achievement gap between students from diverse backgrounds and the average student. Specifically, students of color are performing at lower levels than the average student. SNACS aligns the WCSD goal to close the achievement gap among diverse populations of students, especially those of color.
We utilize The Equity Lens (Adapted from Portland Public Schools). For any policy, program, practice, or decision, consider:
- What marginalized groups are affected/impacted?
- Does the program ignore or worsen existing disparities?
- How have stakeholders been involved?
- What are the barriers to more equitable outcomes?
- How can negative impacts/barriers be mitigated?