This has been an undeniably difficult year, not only due to COVID-19 but also due to the many social movements that have taken place. Throughout this time, the LWHS community has had to fiercely adapt to meet these challenges and the needs of the community. Though the school has been successful on many fronts, this past year has also exposed areas where growth is needed.
With COVID-19, the school has had to balance the creation of a nurturing learning environment with the safety, health and wellbeing of students. LWHS has managed this difficult task impressively well. Students’ needs were taken into consideration, as the school helped students handle tech issues and provided support to many families on flex tuition. LWHS also continued to pay all faculty and staff, even though the school incurred unexpected expenses. Many teachers were very receptive to feedback given by students and properly adjusted their classes to fit the virtual learning environment. Some teachers lessened the workload and emphasized off-screen assignments while others consistently checked in with their students to make sure the class was manageable.
Unlike many schools in the Bay Area, LWHS took on the responsibility of testing students for COVID-19 every week and hosting a vaccination clinic on campus. The result of this work is that students and parents feel safe in the transition from virtual to hybrid learning. But, at the same time, LWHS has recognized that some students prefer to continue learning from home and has ensured that they have the support to do so. Throughout all of this, LWHS has practiced transparency, hosting town halls often and giving updates through the eTiger, community meetings and other means.
Despite the pandemic, LWHS has continued its mission to build a diverse school community.
However, while diversifying the school is incredibly important, these efforts need to be matched by institutional shifts that will ensure students of color feel safe and heard. Select faculty and staff, including the recently hired Director of Student Inclusion and the Restorative Justice Practices Group, have tackled this head-on. Though these positions and groups have and will continue to make valuable contributions, the school has yet to become a truly safe space for many students of color. At the end of the day, administrators make many of the final decisions about what policies and initiatives are implemented, and they have not prioritized equity and inclusion.
Students have taken it upon themselves to create policies and initiatives that will help create the school community that is described in LWHS’ mission statement. For the past two years, students have worked on the creation of an ethnic studies course, a policy that details consequences for the use of hate speech, as well as an attendance policy that allows students to attend social justice-related events. Each of these efforts is either still in progress or has taken multiple years to complete. For students, working on projects like these has been both mentally and physically exhausting, especially when they have not received adequate support from administrators. Administrators have mostly been open to hearing student feedback, but their responses often involve referring to work that students are already undertaking. When action is actually taken, it is often rushed and surface level.
Board and Parent Association members have actually been some of students’ strongest supporters when it comes to equity and inclusion. In the Equity and Inclusion Roundtable, which consists of key admin and board members and Parent Association representatives, we have seen firsthand how parents and board members have kept administrators accountable and have made it a priority that student initiatives are continued beyond their time at LWHS.
Administrators and students may not always be in sync when it comes to equity and inclusion, but administrators do make an admirable effort to support the Student Council and include students in many major decisions. As Student Body Co-Presidents, we have monthly meetings with Head of School Eric Temple and join admin meetings quarterly to convey student feedback and questions. We’ve also held meetings open to the school community with Head of School Eric Temple and Assistant Head of School Randy Barnett where students can ask them any questions they have and make suggestions for how the school can improve. Admin has also given students the valuable opportunity to be involved in the hiring process for key faculty members, such as the Junior-Senior Dean, Head of School and Director of Enrollment. But, we think students would also appreciate being involved in the hiring process for teachers.
In our role as Student Body Co-Presidents, it has been an incredible honor and privilege to serve the LWHS community and collaborate with other students and adults to fulfill the school’s mission. As we move on from this community, we are excited to see how this school will continue to grow, and we have faith that LWHS is taking steps in the right direction.
