The past days and weeks have, once again, shone a spotlight on the tremendous injustices in our society. Our Clover School community is heartbroken, devastated, and outraged at the senseless and tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and too many others who are suffering from racial prejudice and oppression. Issues of racism run deep and are systemically entrenched. They impact so many people, not just in the United States, but also here in Canada and around the world.
We stand in solidarity with our Black students, families, staff, alumni, and with all those who continue to experience racism. We are committed to taking actionable steps to do our part to support communities of colour at local, national, and global levels. In the words of Maya Angelou, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.”
As a mission-driven school, we encourage our students to be conscientious global citizens who do their part to build a kinder, more inclusive, and compassionate world. We will continue to create safe spaces for our students to ask questions and share their own perspectives and experiences. This is a time to speak out but also a time for listening and self-reflection. Conversations about racism and discrimination are not easy to have, but they’ve never been more important. These are steps in the right direction to effecting change at our school, within our community, and beyond.
We will be using our newsletters and social media channels to share information with our community members. It can be challenging knowing how to approach the issues of racism and discrimination with your child. We are committed to supporting our families and providing them with resources and tools to empower them to have open and honest discussions at home about these issues.
We are committed to further educating ourselves. We will provide further training and professional development opportunities surrounding these issues to our staff. We will be creating a diversity and inclusion committee comprised of teachers, administration, and other staff members who will be implementing a variety of initiatives supporting communities of colour, indigenous communities, LGBTQ+ communities, and more.
As a leadership team, we are passionate and deeply committed to creating welcoming, respectful, equitable, and identity-affirming environments for learning and working. We continue to strive to create spaces where individuals are loved for being their true selves and feel a strong sense of acceptance and belonging.
As always, we welcome feedback from our families and community members as we all work to bring about meaningful change. This is an ongoing conversation and partnership. The path to progress is long and difficult, but it is a road we must all walk together. We all have a responsibility to do everything we can to ensure each member of our community feels heard, valued, and celebrated. We must create a better and more united world for the generations to come. It is not enough to be not racist; we must all work to be antiracist. To quote Ibram X. Kendi, “Like fighting an addiction, being an antiracist requires persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination.” Let’s get to work. The time for action is now.
Sandra Bosnar-Dale
Co-Founder and Director
Isabelle Kunicki
Co-Founder and Director
Erika Lacey
Head of Schools
Erika Henry
Executive Operations Director
Tracy Durisin
Vice-Principal, Junior Campus
Dawn Whitehead
Vice-Principal, Elementary Campus
Stephanie Marchment
Admissions and Advancement
Ashley Marcos
Summer Camp Program Director
