Equity Team

During the summer of 2020, EPE formed a committee that focused on equity and lacks thereof, in the world. The group has learned so much since its inception that our focus has expanded to include all sorts of topics that deal with equity and not only through the lens of race. We invite you to learn more about our journey below.

During the 2020-21 school year, committee members included a diverse group of educators in our building. Our first goal was to educate ourselves on this topic and how equity has looked in history. We referenced respected texts like Stamped by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi and Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain by Zaretta Hammond as well as CPS’s Equity Framework created by the Office of Equity. 

The group transformed into a place where individuals could ask honest questions and, those who had experience, would share their thoughts. This led to deep conversations and reexamining of our own beliefs and actions. The group wanted to learn more about how our world got to where it is today before we wanted to do anything in our classrooms. We also had to figure out the best way to inform our other staff members about what we had learned and what this would look like for our Edison Park students. 

In March and April of 2021, our committee rolled out our vision to parents through webinars so they could learn more and ask questions. Through a state grant, we purchased $4000 of texts that were written by diverse authors, explored cultures around the world, and that would create deeper conversations around equity with our students. By the end of the year, we increased the number of diverse texts in all grade levels, kindergarten through eighth. 

In the 2021-22 school year, we wanted to broaden our horizons and change the trajectory of the committee. We felt that we had a good foundation when it came to understanding equity and wanted to focus more on providing exposure, experiences, and action for our entire school community. Following our school’s vision that says, EPE is a positive, purposeful, productive community for all, and our staff’s theme that year, Where we choose kindness, acceptance, and inclusion, we discussed how we can get more students, staff, and families involved. 

At the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, the staff was introduced to a program EPE will take on called No Place for Hate. It is a student-led school climate improvement program that fits each school’s unique culture and needs that takes about three to six months to plan before it is officially rolled out to the entire student body. NPFH’s program is a holistic, school-wide approach to improving school climate and awareness. Over the last 20 years, NPFH has been implemented in over 1600 schools including many in Chicago, and has impacted more than 1.4 million students. Here is a video about No Place for Hate if you would like to learn more. 

One goal of this group is to broaden what we are doing and get more people involved in one way or another. We plan on doing this by forming sub-committees that anyone can be a part of if they’re interested. Those sub-committees may include things like: 

• Field trips to different neighborhoods
• Volunteering in parts of Chicago
• Student Voice Group
• Student Book Club
• Professional Development

We hope you and your family consider joining us on this journey that we plan to go on this school year. Details will be shared as they become available over the course of the year. If you have any questions please reach out to the Principal, Jeffrey Finelli, at [email protected], anytime you like. We can schedule a phone call or a time to meet in person. Thank you.