Diversity at Pingry
DIVERSITY INFORMATION SESSION
We invite families interested in applying to Pingry for entry in September 2014 and beyond to come learn more about Pingry's diverse and inclusive community. The session will provide families with an opportunity to meet current Pingry students, parents and faculty who can share the many ways Pingry values and celebrates ethnic, racial, religious, socioeconomic, and sexual diversity and how we promote multicultural inclusion in all aspects of our school environment.
Both Campus (K-12) Program, Hosted on the Basking Ridge Campus
7:00 p.m.
Monday, May 6, 2013 RSVP NOW!
The Pingry School's Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion
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The Pingry School is committed to sustaining a welcoming and supportive environment both for children and families in its community and those interested in joining the Pingry family. Honoring our legacy and defining our future, the Pingry community values and celebrates a broad definition of diversity that includes ethnicity, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. Recognizing that the only constant in the world of tomorrow will be change, effective leadership will demand intellectual flexibility and agility, creativity, teamwork, comfort with complexity and ambiguity, experience with diversity, and above all, character and honor. As we prepare our students to claim their place as leaders in the 21st century, it is essential that their intellectual engagement occur in a multicultural environment. Daily experiences with differing perspectives of our larger society, while leaning firmly into that which can be a source of discomfort, will prepare our graduates to thrive as culturally competent individuals in a multicultural world.
Diversity at Pingry
Diversity within the Pingry Community is defined in its broadest sense. Our commitment to diversity includes families that are from various racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and religious backgrounds. Our cultural diversity also includes various family constellations.
Recognizing the changing face of our world, the mission of the Pingry School is to create an environment that will reflect the larger society. It is essential that our students learn to co-exist with others different from themselves as they work towards becoming competent global citizens. Pingry strives to promote multicultural inclusion through its curriculum, programming, and outreach efforts.
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See photos from the November 8, 2009 reception at our Short Hills Campus.
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Multicultural Curriculum
Education at Pingry occurs in a multicultural environment which allows students to learn while viewing the material presented from differing perspectives. In this way their intellectual engagement will be enriched.
Pingry students are immersed in the exploration of the history and culture of diverse societies in the classroom through the study of the Civil Rights Movement, women in history, the Aborigines of Australia, immigration to North America, the Inuit of Alaska, the history and social issues of African-Americans, and the roots of western culture derived from the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, among other topics.
Cultural Competency
In our effort to sustain a welcoming and supportive environment for all including our culturally diverse families, Pingry students, faculty and staff are continually working towards becoming culturally competent. As a community we must become comfortable with self-reflection in order to understand others. Rather than "tolerating others" we seek to understand, and appreciate those who are different from ourselves. Our empathic ability is essential to a sincere appreciation and celebration of diversity.
TO ACHIEVE CULTURAL COMPETENCY WE:
Engage in Dialogue about Diversity and Multiculturism
Students and faculty discuss difficult issues such as the concept of "privilege":
“Diversity work is anything but easy. Yet I often feel privileged to have the opportunity to pursue this work at the Pingry School, where the same pursuit of excellence and intellectual engagement that is directed towards academics, athletics and the arts, is also directed towards our many diversity initiatives.” — Diana Artis, Ed.D., Coordinator of Multicultural Outreach
Seek Professional Development
Adults and students within the Pingry community attend conferences and workshops designed to help achieve cultural competency and empathic ability. Over the past three years 15 students and 30 adults have traveled to the People of Color Conference sponsored by the National Association of Independent Schools.
Invite Guest Speakers
Pingry students’ curriculum is frequently enriched by visiting speakers and performers. Our diversity work is also supported in the same manner. To have individuals come and speak to our community about relevant issues is not viewed as a luxury but rather a necessity.
March 31, 2009 Judy Shepard addressed Forms I - VI and discussed the anti-homosexual hate crime that resulted in the murder of her son Matthew Shepard. Ms. Shepard spent the morning engaging students in dialogue about her views that include all forms of hatred.
April 2009 Ruby Bridges spent two days visiting grades 2 – 12 describing her struggle for integration as a young child in New Orleans in the 1960’s. Ms. Bridges used this opportunity to encourage students to engage in the continued struggle for true independence.
“It made me grateful to know that I go to a school with such a diversified community” — Rebecca Spicehandler, Class of 2011
Our commitment to Honor and Excellence requires an evaluation of our diversity goals and efforts. Faculty are routinely asked to provide feedback about the progress achieved and the work left to be completed. In the Spring of 2009, the faculty and staff completed a survey which will be used to identify further needs in the area of diversity initiatives.
Multicultural Teams
Teams composed of staff and faculty have been established at the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools. The mission of these teams is to reflect upon the needs of our continually changing community with a goal of ensuring that our students and families feel good about their decision to pursue a Pingry Education.
Team members regularly engage in diversity training. They also help to lead the community by considering the difficult issues that impact a true multicultural education. The concept behind the team approach is that all members of the community should assume responsibility for the success of our initiatives. Members rotate on the team in two and three year cycles.
Faculty of Color
We actively recruit faculty of color to join the Pingry community. Our current statistics reflect that 13% of the faculty and staff identify as people of color. Pingry celebrates a tradition of low attrition among the faculty which presents a unique challenge for our goal of a more diverse teaching community. However as faculty retire, we seek to recruit colleagues of color. It is critical that our students learn from adults that represent a diversity reflective of the larger global community.
