ECC Commitments

At Bosque School, we are committed to protecting our community members from all forms of harm, including discrimination and harassment on the basis of race or ethnicity, race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, or any other identity. Bosque School has made many significant and ongoing investments in the area of Equity, Community, and Culture (ECC), and we understand that our commitment to this work is a primary reason many students and families choose to join our school. We have the following policies and structures in place:

• Specific and supportive language in our mission and core values, alongside our school’s Equity, Community, and Culture (ECC) Principles and Best Practices

 

• An overarching non-discrimination policy in our Student & Parent Handbook: "Bosque School does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or disability in the administration of its educational program, admission, financial aid, athletics, or other school policies. All students are afforded the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students of the school."

 

• A well-developed anti-harassment policy in our Student & Parent Handbook. This policy was updated significantly in the past two years to specifically address instances of identity-based harassment. This policy includes this guiding language:

  • Bosque School is committed to creating and maintaining an educational environment in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity. Any form of harassment, bullying, or discrimination is prohibited. This connects to the school’s mission, values, & Equity, Community, and Culture (ECC) Principles and Best Practices.  Harassment, bullying, and discrimination often rely on widely embedded power differences based on race, religion, sexual identity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, medical conditions, or age, and they will not be tolerated for any reason. Our goal is to create a safe community. In order to achieve this goal, we must acknowledge that such acts and patterns can occur within our community, and they can hurt everyone: perpetrators, bystanders, and victims. Because of this, discrimination, bullying, or harassment in any form will not be tolerated among Bosque School community members. “Kids will be kids” is not sufficient to excuse cruel behavior.

 

• A dedicated ECC Dean & Educator who works in direct partnership with the Academic Leadership Team, affinity leaders, and a staffulty ECC committee.

 

• An expectation, outlined in employees’ job descriptions, that all administrators and staffulty members work to support Bosque’s ECC commitments and progress. Consistent and ongoing professional development related to how best to support our students and manifest our ECC Principles and Best Practices through our curriculum, community, and policies and procedures.

 

• Dedicated Equity, Community, and Culture curriculum and classes (taught by our ECC educator) in the middle and upper school that help students understand topics of identity, positionality, power, systems of oppression, constructive discourse, and allyship in developmentally appropriate ways. In addition, we frequently engage in related topics through morning meeting presentations, class discussions, and advisory programming.

 

• Identity-based affinity and alliance groups where students can process their thoughts and experiences as they pertain to identity, seek support from trusted adults and peers, and build community around affinity and shared experience. Current identity-based groups include the following: the Asian American Affinity Group, the Black Affinity Group, the Gender & Sexuality Alliance (divisional groups for middle and upper school students), the Hispanic/Latinx affinity group, the Jewish Affinity Group, the Native American/Indigenous Affinity Group, and the Neurodiversity Affinity Group. We have also held staffulty affinity groups, including a Staffulty of Color Affinity Group, a Hispanic Heritage Affinity Group, and a White Antiracist Affinity Group. In addition, we have a student-led BridgeUSA Dialogue club that facilitates constructive discourse about difficult topics within our community, as well as student leadership groups such as our student judicial committee and student government, who work in alignment with the administration on developing policies and holding accountability. 

 

• A commitment to developing a student, staffulty, and board of trustees community that is reflective of New Mexico’s cultural diversity. We conduct a yearly review of metrics to track Bosque’s demographics in comparison to New Mexico census data to identify growth and opportunities.

 

• Metrics to track, trend, and respond to annual student and staffulty satisfaction survey data as it relates to the experiences of our overall population as well as our BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and female-identifying community members. 

 

• Developing an actionable ECC strategic plan with a focus on the recruitment and retention of a diverse staffulty; the recruitment and retention of a diverse student body; further aligning our curriculum around our ECC Principles and Best Practices; and continuing to build our community's capacity to critically discuss and analyze all topics of identity, including race, gender, religion, ability, and wealth/class.

Recognizing that there are no straight lines or right answers in any organization’s commitment to equity, community, and culture, we, as a school, know that our learning is never complete, and we are continually refining our efforts to best support the needs of our community.