Equity and Inclusion

At St. Margaret’s Episcopal School, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are integral components of everyday life. Our mission, core values and DEI work are rooted in our Episcopal identity, which calls us to seek and serve God in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself. 

What do we mean by Diversity?
We recognize and celebrate that diversity exists in the backgrounds and experiences that have shaped our lives, the traditions we observe, our race, ethnicity, the colors of our skin, our biological sex, gender, sexual orientation, the faiths we practice, the structures of our families, the financial resources we possess, the physical, social, emotional, and mental health needs we have, and in our myriad intersecting identities. We believe that our unique identities shape us as individuals and in groups. As a community, we seek and value diversity and how our unique identities weave together to create a wonderful fabric that unites us and prepares our students for living in a complex global society. 

What do we mean by inclusion?
By inclusion, we mean our ability to honor and respect the dignity of every human being. Inclusion means that when Tartans or any member of our community walk onto campus, they can bring their full selves each and every day. Each of our backgrounds, life experiences, thoughts, countries of origin, cultures, faiths, languages, foods, music and social identifiers belong here—fully and without exception. I am my full self, I can belong.  When we engage in inclusion work, we ask ourselves, “Is every member of our community able to co-create the culture of our school? Whose voices and experiences are included? Whose are not?”

“Being seen, valued and loved for who you are by nurturing adults and peers is the rich soil in which a young person flourishes and thrives. We have a wonderfully diverse community of people who come from many cultures, backgrounds and experiences. We want every member to feel they belong here. At its most fundamental level, DEI work is about ensuring that every member of our community can belong,” says Director of Equity and Inclusion Victor Cota. 

What do we mean by equity?
Whenever and wherever we find that certain voices and experiences are less represented than others, that is when our equity work kicks in. We understand that ours is a world of imbalanced access to opportunities and resources. As a result, people in the same community will have very different experiences. When we engage in equity work, we ask ourselves, “Who is favored? Who is not? Who has privilege in this situation? Who does not?” Then, as we become more comfortable and informed in this dialogue, we immediately ask, “What will we do about it?” Sometimes this means reflecting on individual behaviors and sometimes it means examining entire systems. What matters is that we recognize inequity exists, we work to see and identify it, and then we ask the questions, move through any subsequent discomfort, and act.

We are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion.