Lakeside School

Diversity is the range of characteristics used to mark individual and group identities — ethnicity, race, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, class, religion, and more. Diversity is a term used as shorthand for visible and quantifiable statuses, but diversity of thought and ways of knowing, being, and doing are also understood as natural, valued, and desired states, the presence of which benefit organizations, workplaces, and society.

• Over the decades, Lakeside’s student body has become increasingly diverse, and more closely reflective of the demographics of our region. In the 2022-2023 school year, students self-identify their primary race/ethnicity as the following: 32% European American; 31% Asian American; 19% multiracial; 11% African American; 3% Latino/Hispanic American; 1% Middle Eastern American; and under 1%, respectively, Native American and Pacific Islander American.
   

   

• While we do not collect demographic data on other identities, the Upper School has two groups (one affinity and one alliance) for students who identify as LGBTQ+; an affinity group focused on illness and disability; and learning groups focused on allyship, in addition to affinity and alliance groups focused on racial and ethnic identities. Our Middle School has a Queer Straight Alliance group (QSA). Find information about affinity groups below, under ways we are building an inclusive community. 
   
• Information about gender identity is regularly updated in handbooks to more holistically support students and employees who are transgender and gender non-binary. 
   
• Starting in 2020, our admissions team has hosted admissions-focused gatherings for students and families who identify as Black/African/African American and/or Hispanic/Latino/a/x, to hear from current Black and Latinx students, parents and guardians, and alumni about their Lakeside experience. In 2022, the admissions team added a similar event for students and families who identify as LGBTQIA+. 
   
• A continued area of effort for Lakeside is recruiting, hiring, and retaining faculty of color. When professionals of color bring their excellence and expertise to independent schools, all of our students benefit. For our students to see themselves in their teachers, we need to hire more faculty who identify as Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and/or LGBTQ+. Ongoing efforts include hosting an annual Diversity Career Fair with other West Coast independent schools; the adoption of an equitable hiring process with robust anti-bias training; continually improving our onboarding and mentoring programs for new faculty; and cultivating leadership and advancement for employees of color, including regular meetings for all faculty with division directors, hosting affinity groups, and support for attending conferences like the NAIS People of Color Conference. 

Equity is a condition that balances two dimensions: fairness and inclusion. Lakeside actively works to ensure that students have what they need to reach their full potential. We strive to create equitable classrooms and programs in which students have equal access and opportunities to fully participate in and contribute to school life, and essential programs, services, activities, and technologies are accessible to all.

• Lakeside’s extensive need-based financial-aid program supports nearly a third of students at the school. Financial assistance extends beyond tuition and covers additional school-related costs including, but not limited to, food, books, bus, laptop, and field trips.
   
• Knowing that parents and guardians are a key part of a student’s success, our family support program works to ensure that all families can fully participate in the life of the school. Staff work with families on a wide range of issues, particularly those that affect student learning, including translation, crisis support, and transportation. 
   
• A major goal of Our Work Together is to ensure faculty actively seek to understand their own implicit biases, use a broad range of pedagogies, and incorporate diverse perspectives into their curricula. Educators (faculty, staff, and coaches) receive extensive professional development on equitable pedagogy (how we teach) and assessments so they can use a wide range of instructional and assessment strategies to enhance student learning and understanding. We are adding time and space for faculty to practice and implement inclusive teaching practices in curricula, activities, assessment practices, etc. 
   
• Administrators and DEIB team members work individually with faculty members and departments to ensure they are progressing toward culturally responsive teaching. They support teachers’ skills in teaching with a culturally responsive lens and adopting equitable assessment practices.

Inclusion happens when we take every individual’s experience and identity into account and create conditions where all feel accepted, safe, empowered, supported, and affirmed. Diversity alone does not lead to inclusion. We take active steps to create an environment in which the identities and cultural backgrounds of our families, students, and employees are valued and respected.

• We continue to move toward a curriculum with diverse perspectives, materials, and texts, in which all our students can see their backgrounds and experiences. We are committed to addressing biases, stereotypes, inaccuracies, and absent perspectives in curricular content.
   
• Lakeside values cross-cultural communication and engagement. Students in the Middle and Upper schools regularly participate in developmentally appropriate, structured dialogues with their peers regarding aspects of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. For example, the Student Affinity Leadership Team brings together all student affinity group leaders to support each other, collaborate on projects like the all-school Fall Festival, and provide feedback to school administrators and trustees. The Upper School’s Student Awareness Council hosts bi-annual retreats and other activities to increase awareness, conversation, and action about a wide spectrum of socio-political issues, including those pertaining to race, gender, and class. In the Middle School, connections between affinity groups and advisory groups create opportunities for cross-racial conversations about identity; informational emails with resources are sent to families so that students can continue conversations at home.
   
• The school supports students fasting for religious observances by offering food-free spaces to rest throughout the day, rest breaks, lower-impact P.E. options, assessment and deadline flexibility, and space for prayer.
   
• Middle and Upper school students regularly participate in regional and national conferences focused on DEIB, including the annual National Association of Independent Schools’ Student Diversity Leadership Conference and the Northwest Association of Independent Schools’ Student Diversity Leadership Retreat. At these events, students engage, connect, and learn together and from each other.
   
• Lakeside is part of POCIS Seattle: a consortium of NWAIS independent schools that exists to help people of color thrive in independent schools. The consortium hosts the Virtual Equity & Inclusion Speaker Series, which provides opportunities to connect, learn, and engage in topics around equity, inclusion, and antiracist education and action; BIPOC Voices, a program that brings together BIPOC employees of our schools to share ideas, collaborate, and learn together; and Black Educator’s Socials, which create space for Black colleagues in our schools to connect, collaborate, and establish community. 
   
• The Parents and Guardians Association is committed to DEIB work. They offer opportunities for learning and connection through the T.J. Vassar Diversity and Community committee and book club; parent and guardian affinity groups; and a comprehensive list of resources available for the entire school community to explore and learn. The PGA’s We Are Lakeside project introduces all parents and guardians to the equity and inclusion concepts that students are learning. After watching videos, parents and guardians are prompted to reflect in a questionnaire and think about the ways they can take action to help make our community more equitable and inclusive. The goal is for every Lakeside family to watch the videos and complete the questionnaire. 

Belonging is the feeling of security and support that means an individual can bring their authentic self to school and work. Through supportive relationships and connections across difference, we are cultivating an inclusive community in which every person feels that they belong because they are seen, heard, valued, and loved. 

• Deepening our work in belonging is a current focus at Lakeside. We are re-examining how to deepen our culture of care, where people trust each other enough to lean into difficult conversations and be open to repair when mistakes are made. 
   
• Administrators hold regular listening sessions with students and parents/guardians from historically marginalized groups, to hear about their experiences at Lakeside. 
   
• Lakeside’s advisory program (grades 5-12) is focused on creating an inclusive community and a sense of belonging for all students. An easy-to-follow curriculum is a resource for advisors to use for engaging their groups in meaningful conversations, connection, and engagement.
   
• For over 20 years, Lakeside has supported students’ positive identity development by offering student affinity and alliance group programs. Research shows that students who feel they can fully be themselves and have a strong sense of self perform better academically. The programs follow best practices and serve to support students in learning about themselves and about others. Learn more about our Middle School affinity and alliance groups and our Upper School affinity, alliance, and learning groups. 
   
• Lakeside hosts regular affinity gatherings and events for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ employees. 
   
• In classrooms, publications, clubs, and affinity groups, students are creating opportunities to recognize and honor the multicultural nature of our community, including sharing family traditions, celebrations, cultures, and values. 
   
• We added school traditions that celebrate and honor the richness of our multicultural community: a back-to-school gathering to welcome all families, and a widely attended family potluck and community night for all Middle School families, where families share aspects of their cultures and traditions.
   
• In Lakeside’s 5-12 human development and health department, re-envisioned in 2020, students explore how to care for themselves, engage in healthy relationships with friends and family, and serve as compassionate community members and engaged citizens. The curriculum was designed using a DEI lens and students learn about systems of power and oppression as it relates to wellness and identity development.
   
• In 2020, the Statement of Community Expectations was updated. The new version of the document focuses on how Lakeside is welcoming people, representing the school, and identifying our community. It has been moved to a more prominent place on our website.