Living in a diverse world presents challenges and joys for our children. We believe it is our responsibility to foster an equitable and safe environment, which promotes belonging and appreciation of ourselves as well as others. Our school is a community that strives to lead by example in respecting and affirming the unique combination of identities and qualities of each person. We actively seek students, families, faculty, and staff from a wide spectrum of backgrounds.
UCDS believes that the different experiences of the intersection of our identities and perspectives can stimulate growth and new possibilities when encouraged through courageous conversations to challenge assumptions and foster greater understanding within ourselves and others. We value what each of us contributes to the whole and envision our school as a mosaic that reflects the broader community.
57%
STUDENTS OF COLOR
67%
INCOMING STUDENTS OF COLOR
47%
OF STUDENTS ARE MULTI-LINGUAL
64%
OF INCOMING STUDENTS ARE MULTI-LINGUAL
Equity & Inclusion Virtual Speaker Series
UCDS is a member of POCIS Northwest, an organization that funds and organizes the Equity & Inclusion Virtual Speakers Series. This series is a free-and-open public initiative created to foster dialogue, education, and action around important issues such as diversity, equity, inclusion, anti-bias, and antiracism.
For Our Students
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging are central values at UCDS. From our youngest to oldest students, we strive to help them develop a worldview that recognizes, understands, and values diversity in race, ethnicity, gender, religion, ability, and more. We weave opportunities for these meaningful conversations, experiences, and learning throughout students’ days.
Social Justice Standards
To help guide our planning and collaboration our teaching teams work closely with our DEIB Department. As we develop curriculum we utilize Learning for Justice’s Social Justice Standards, to ensure that students have learning opportunities within all four domains: identity, diversity, justice, and action. Click the arrow below to view the Social Justice Standards.
Curriculum
Our teaching teams create curriculum centered around specific Social Justice Standards. Throughout the year, teachers take opportunities from our annual theme, holidays, and field trips to offer learning experiences that are meaningful and developmentally relevant for students. Click the arrow below to view a curricular example for each of the four domains.
For Our Families
As students deepen their understanding of themselves and others, we recognize and celebrate the vital role their families play in this journey. Through parent and guardian education workshops and our expanding family affinity group programming, we aim to support knowledge development and foster a sense of belonging for all members of our community.
Throughout the year, we offer learning opportunities for families, including workshops featuring UCDS curriculum on cultural appropriation and appreciation and sessions with external authors and speakers from the greater community. By bringing together faculty, staff, parents, and guardians for these learning experiences, we believe we can better support our students in developing their sense of self and others, as well as fostering their commitment to justice.
Each year, we host multiple Families of Color Socials, inviting families to come together, share experiences, and build connections. In the 2024-2025 school year, we are excited to launch a Latinx affinity group. This group, like others to follow, will gather for off-campus social events designed to cultivate a strong sense of community and connection. We look forward to expanding these opportunities in the coming years to support families with other shared identities.
For Our Faculty & Staff
Professional Development
At UCDS, we strive to create an environment of continued education for all. This value holds particularly true in terms of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging work. We believe that to do this work well we need to reflect on our own identities and also create opportunities to learn about current best anti-bias practices to support students and families. Each year we engage in professional development facilitated both internally and externally on a wide range. Additionally, faculty and staff have the opportunity to attend professional development opportunities such as the NAIS People of Color Conference, Northwest Teaching for Social Justice Conference, and Cultures Connecting.
- Student-Centered Communication: Fostering Anti-Bias Practice through Communication in the Classroom (Internal)
- Bias within the Admissions Process (Internal)
- Integrating Anti-bias Education into Our Thinking and Practice (Debbie LeeKeenan)
- Social Justice Standards (Christina Spears of Rise DEI)
- Connect.Humanize.Disrupt (Dr. Lauryn Mascareñaz of Rise DEI)
Affinity Groups
UCDS faculty and staff affinity groups create spaces for people to be in community with others who share an aspect of their identity. The purpose of these voluntary groups is to further a sense of belonging amongst all UCDS employees. Regardless of where one is in their journey of identity development, affinity groups foster a crucial place where folks can come together to celebrate their common identities and express any challenges they are facing. The current affinity groups are People of Color, LGBTQIA+, and White Anti Racist Educators (WARE) (see more information below). UCDS faculty and staff are welcome to attend any and all groups that directly reflect aspects of their identity. All affinity groups meet once a month. All meetings are optional. As our community grows, we hope to be responsive and add more groups for our growing community.
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People of Color (POC) Affinity Group
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This affinity group is for faculty and staff who identify as a Person of Color. Meetings for this group will be socially focused and offer opportunities for connection, conversation, and community. While the primary focus of this group is social, the hope is that the relationships built in this group can offer support and processing when needed.
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LGBTQIA+ Affinity Group
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This affinity group is for faculty and staff who identify as LGBTQIA+. Meetings for this group will be socially focused and offer a variety of opportunities for connection, conversation, and community. While the primary focus of this group is social, the hope is that relationships in this group will offer support and processing when needed.
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White Anti-Racist Educators (WARE) Affinity Group
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WARE is an affinity group for faculty and staff who identify as white. The group’s mission is grounded in the work of Ali Michael and Mary C Conger who describe the goal of the group as: “to examine what it means to be white, to critically reflect on themselves and their actions and to work to identify and confront racism in schools”. Although this group is for faculty and staff who identify as white, they will aim to work in solidarity with, and accountability to, People of Color in creating anti-racist communities.
POCIS (People of Color in Independent Schools) Northwest strives to connect, empower, and strengthen the BIPOC members of our schools and our regional independent school community by providing opportunities and programming for education, growth, and engagement. Visit POCIS Northwest to learn more.
