York Catholic Middle & High School
We are all united in our desire for York Catholic Middle & High School to be a community that provides an inclusive environment for everyone and one that models the teachings of Catholic Social Justice. York Catholic believes in the dignity of all human persons, and the equal treatment of all people. We encourage our students, faculty, staff, and alumni to engage in personal conversation, to listen with open hearts, always strive for better understanding, and grow as a supportive community of love and respect.
As a community, we must continue to stand strong together to ensure our Catholic Christian faith and values permeate every corner, from our care for our students and their families while they are in our halls to the mandate to serve the global community, leaving it better than we found it.
During these times, we must rely on our faith in Christ and faith in each other, which unite us. We must rely on our Christian values where discrimination, injustice, violence, and hatred are sins that will not be tolerated. We must “love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind.” And we must “love our neighbor as ourselves.” For “on these two commandments depend all the law.” (Matthew 22).
Over the course of the last year, our York Catholic Equity Committee, composed of members of the school board, administration, faculty, students and alumni has created a commitment to the values of equity and anti-racism at York Catholic. We have incorporated some of these statements into our Strategic Plan and developed several action steps as a guide for our community.
Action Plan
As our nation continues to raise awareness regarding the importance of inclusion, diversity, equity, and anti-racism, York Catholic is reaffirming its commitment to these same principles. We have partnered with Educational Mentoring and Consulting Services (EMCS) to assist our faculty and staff in ensuring our students are prepared to serve their global community upon receiving a York Catholic education in an atmosphere of faith, family, and mutual respect.
The responsibility to educate in such an environment lies with every constituent, board member, administrator, faculty member, and staff member, in partnership with parents, who are the foremost educators of their children.
Dr. Lisa Williams, Dr. Sharone Brinkley-Parker, and Ms. Johari Toe of EMCS have led discussions with constituents to create an opportunity to better understand the experiences and challenges of York Catholic students of color, and to guide adults in ongoing dialogues with children about race.
As we continue these ongoing conversations, we believe our students, staff, and community will have an increased level of understanding and work together to further social justice within their global community.
We have developed the following action steps to further anti-racism and equity education and initiatives in our community.
- Provide regular and relevant professional development opportunities for administration, faculty, and staff focused on equity.
- Continue to provide opportunities for parent and student education on relevant topics to the community, including mental health, drug and alcohol, social media, equity, etc.
- Recruit people of color to all roles of leadership and instruction.
- Establish a structure to assist in improving communication/comfort levels for students and parents to express concerns.
- Create affinity group structures at YC for students of colors.
In addition to these action steps, we spent the last year in prayer for peace, equity, and anti-racism in all communities.
