At SCS, we are working hard to ensure that community members are known and valued.
The Schoolâs mission is to develop outstanding women who are intellectually curious, courageous, and compassionate. Our students are guided to become critical thinkers, problem solvers, creative and strong communicators, and skilled collaborators. They demonstrate strong character and a commitment to citizenship. This ongoing and strategic work is guided by SCSâs values of excellence, respect, integrity, community, creativity, and spirituality.
To enable the success of each one of our students, SCS believes that every member of our community must feel safe and have a strong sense of belonging. This commitment to belonging is a strategic imperative for our School. As articulated in our Strategic Plan 2025, we wish to foster an inclusive and safe environment in which students are empowered to engage in and contribute to a community in which everyone feels known and valued. This work is and must be ongoing, and engage our parents in addition to our students, staff, and alums.
Our Diversity Statement reflects this ongoing work:
What Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Mean To Us.
Student-led Equity Committees
There are three student-led equity committees at SCS: the Anti-Oppression Alliance (formerly the Anti-Racism Committee (ARC), the Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA), and the Indigenous Affairs Circle (IAC). They each undertake special projects related to the Schoolâs ongoing commitment to an equitable, diverse, and inclusive environment in which each memberâs identity and well-being is valued.
Hereâs a snapshot of recent projects:
As part of the project, ARC surveyed current students and staff in order to gain a better sense of the diversity of culture that exists within our community, with a focus on names and their history as a marker of inclusion and belonging. Homeform activities related to names and their significance were also planned. The committee hopes the project will ultimately allow the SCS community to better understand and appreciate the importance of peopleâs names, and why respecting one anotherâs names is so crucial.
The Pronouns Project featured a student and staff survey in order to investigate background knowledge and experiences of pronouns and proper uses. Drawing from the survey results, the committee aims to provide resources and information to assist community members to confidently express why pronouns should be included in email signatures, Zoom/Google Meet names, and other places in which a personâs name appears.
A territorial or land acknowledgment is an act of reconciliation that involves making a statement recognizing the traditional territory of Indigenous Peoples who called the land home before the arrival of settlers, and in many cases do still call it home. Land acknowledgments are just the first step to creating partnerships, and learning from, Indigenous communities, and should be evolving documents that challenge the listener rather than lose their meaning over time from repetition.
In late 2021, SCS worked to review and revise our land acknowledgement. As this work was underway, the IAC was eager to create an interactive piece to pair with the revised land acknowledgement. This takes the form of an online platform, with sections that describe the purpose of the land acknowledgement, provide context around its different sections, and link to external resources to learn more. It also features a pronunciation guide. The interactive online sections and resources mean that the whole SCS community will be able to engage with the content.
The IAC spent a lot of time discussing the role of land acknowledgements, and learned much about the exclusion of Indigenous voices in the construction of treaties. As a result, rather than just information about the treaties signed, the committee chose to include Indigenous philosophies around the land and water.Â
A TIMELINE OF ST. CLEMENTâS SCHOOLâS EDI WORK AND INITIATIVES. OUR WORK IS ONGOING.
- EDI Committee membership extends to alums
- Student Diversity Committee renamed Anti-Racism Committee
- Launch of 2020-2025 Strategic Plan; EDI remains a strategic pillar for the School
- Alum feedback sessions conducted in order to seek input on student experiences while at SCS
- Anti-Oppression: Committing to Justice virtual conference, open to CAIS schools across the country with students, staff, alum and Board members in attendance
- Appointment of the Schoolâs first Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion
- School EDI Committee structure was reviewed and revised, to ensure an effective and proactive working group. Committee is led by the Director of EDI in consultation with the Vice Principal
- The Governance Committee of the Board of Governors creates a new EDI Advisory Council
- As part of an ongoing look at language to ensure inclusivity, decision to shift from alumna/alumnae to alum/alums
- Library audit conducted to determine how diverse our Schoolâs literary collection is
- All Staff PD- topics included pattern awareness; environmental culture; controversial and emotive issues; concepts of identity and expression
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- Staff Signatures Policy was updated to welcome use of pronouns and name pronunciations as good practice for inclusivity
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- Report Writing guidelines updated as part of an ongoing look at inclusive, bias-free language
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- Hosted the Feminism and its Intersections in 2023 EDI conference for colleague CIS/CAIS schools
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- EDI Curriculum Task Force created and tasked with Grades 1-8 curriculum framework design
- All Staff PD â topics included context framing around exposure to difference; equity literacy framework
- School EDI Committee structure revised; includes 9 staff members and 6 students
- Hosted the Making Space, Having Grace EDI conference for colleague CIS/CAIS schools
- Revised Student Forum Spaces, to now include: Anti-Oppression Alliance/Gender-Sexuality Alliance/Indigenous Affairs Circle/Intersectional Dialogue & Learning/Black Student Affinity Group/Asian Student Affinity Group
- Grades 7-12 EDI Curriculum Framework learning opportunities created as part of âFlextimeâ programming
INDIGENOUS EDUCATION
A territorial or land acknowledgement is an act of reconciliation that involves making a statement recognizing the traditional territory of the Indigenous Peoples who called the land home before the arrival of settlers, and in many cases still do call it home. Land acknowledgements are just the first step to creating partnerships with, and learning from, Indigenous communities.
Over the course of the 2021-2022 school year, Gabrielle M. â22 and a group of staff members, working with the Indigenous Affairs Circle, sought to revise the SCS land acknowledgement. During the revision process, the group consulted Geraldine Govender, an Elder from the Moose Cree First Nation and an important partner and friend to the School. Other land acknowledgements, and the writings of scholars like Chelsea Vowel and Hayden King on land acknowledgements also influenced sections and word choices.
- The revised land acknowledgement is divided into three sections.
The first section focuses on the past Indigenous cultures that have inhabited the land. - The middle section focuses on our present partnerships with Indigenous people and communities.
- The final section focuses on the ongoing and future implications of acknowledging the land.
The land acknowledgement is intended to be personalized and adapted to:
- fit the event or assembly it is being spoken at
- be meaningful to the speaker and cause the listener to reflect differently each time it is heard
- not lose its meaning from repetitiveness
As a school, we must ensure that our students are learning about the heritage, cultures, and valuable contributions made to Canada by First Nations, Inuit, and MĂ©tis peoples. We are committed to seeking truth and acknowledging the impacts of colonialism.
This ongoing education occurs both via components of the curriculum, and also via student-led co-curricular opportunities. An example of the latter: on the first ever National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, 2021 – a day honouring the lost children and Survivors of residential schools, their families, and communities – the members of SCSâs Indigenous Affairs Circle ran a Truth and Reconciliation Assembly for the full school. During that gathering, the committee discussed what truth and reconciliation really means: âReconciliation needs to happen on an individual level and a community level, not just a governmental one. Reconciliation is about the acknowledgement of wrongs from residential schools and their continual impact on Indigenous people today, addressing these wrongs and their impacts, and elevating Indigenous voices and culture.â
Following that assembly, Upper School students heard from guest speaker Andy Garrow about how we can concretely move forward with reconciliation. In the Junior School, students examined the Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action by using the youth-friendly version, Spirit Bearâs Guide to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. Each class learned about one call to action in depth and committed to that call to action.
âWe all need to be continually aware of the inequities that Indigenous people face and the lasting effects of residential schools, work to correct any biases we may have, and incorporate Indigenous teachings into our learning.â The Indigenous Affairs Circle ran full-school events to bring together the SCS community and talk about Indigenous culture, social justice issues, and reconciliation. Students were encouraged to participate by donating to a hamper drive, joining one of the MĂ©tis beading circles, or attending an IAC meeting.
SCSâs partnership with Moose Factory and the Moose Cree First Nation was forged in 2010, and has been strengthened in the years since then with regular visits by SCS students and staff. In 2016, we were thrilled to be able to welcome a group of elders and Grade 8 Moose Factory students for a reciprocal visit. The power of this partnership isnât based solely on trips taken once or twice a year – although that goes a long way toward building the understanding and respect that is crucial for a mutually beneficial exchange. (And, having not been able to travel in person to Moose Factory during COVID, we are so excited that the trips have now been able to resume!)
We, the SCS community, acknowledge the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Wendat, the Anishinabek Nation, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and the MĂ©tis people on which we are learning, working and organizing today. We acknowledge that the city of Toronto is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaties signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands. While the Toronto Purchase was signed for this parcel of land, we recognize that the Mississaugas were not properly compensated and more land was taken than originally agreed upon.
We value the contributions that Indigenous peoples from across Turtle Island have made, both in shaping and in strengthening our community, our province, and our country. We are grateful for our partnerships with KĂąpapĂąmahchakwĂȘw – Wandering Spirit School and Moose Cree First Nation, and continue to learn from them.
Let this acknowledgement serve as a reminder of our ongoing efforts to recognize, honour, reconcile and partner with the Indigenous peoples and groups whose lands and waters we benefit from today. These efforts are grounded in a commitment to learn and honour the truths of this land; we recognize that the truth of colonialism has been buried and hidden throughout the past, but in acknowledging the land we commit to seek out the truth. We are all treaty people. While we have arrived to this place differently, all of us share a responsibility to honour the treaties.
Lastly, may Indigenous excellence and joy pervade teaching and learning in our school.
Opportunities to Learn (and unlearn)
As part of the Schoolâs ongoing EDI work, we have been pleased to provide various forums for learning.
In November 2019, we welcomed 100 delegates from SCS and eight colleague schools for the Race, Privilege, and Community Conference. With the generous financial support of SCS parents Tracy Pryce and Michael Salamon, the event focused on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Each participating school sent a group of students, faculty, administrators, parents, alum, and board members, all of whom were fully engaged in the discussions. The intention of the conference was not just to listen and contribute, but to create an action plan to take back to their respective schools.
SCS hosted a full-day Anti-Oppression: Committing to Justice conference in May 2021. This virtual event enabled hundreds of participants from schools across the country to gather for conversations around anti-oppression. The goal was to provide a collective opportunity to discuss social justice work within school communities.
In May 2022, SCS presented a virtual workshop opportunity for faculty and staff of CAIS and CIS schools. Entitled Rough Draft, this âunconferenceâ invited participants to learn, share, and problem solve the EDI work being done. Participants came with an issue, idea, or roadblock. Rough Draft means the EDI work being undertaken is still very much in progress; the intention was not for participants to arrive at the workshop with a finished product to discuss, or to leave with one. Instead, participants received suggestions, support, and ideas for next steps to further the EDI work within each school community.
In February 2023, we hosted our third EDI-focused conference where more than 100 students, staff, parents, Board members, and alums gathered to dive into an important conversation aligned with the conference theme of Feminism and its Intersections in 2023. This conference featured complex and provocative conversations centred around doing EDI work in our schools and how this work needs to happen across generations. A key takeaway from this conference: schools are an ideal place to engage in this intergenerational work, and we can only be successful if we learn with and from each other, demonstrating mutual respect.
Stemming in part from discussions at the Feminism and its Intersections conference, in November 2023 SCS hosted another EDI conference focused around the theme of Making Space, Having Grace. Based around the work of Paul Gorski, the dayâs keynote speaker, attendees looked at equity literacy and the four building blocks of equity (equity desire, equity knowledge, equity skills, and equity will) that are required for transformative equity efforts in our schools.
