Transforming students who will help others around them thrive

In the work that Schooling for Hope has done with the NativityMiguel Coalition (NMC) and its member schools since 2020, I have been inspired by the many stories of alums’ success in high school, college, and beyond–and their ability to help others around them be their best selves. One of the most uplifting of those stories is Anthony Blake’s testimonial to the impact St. Andrew Nativity School had on his life. A few years ago, Anthony became the board chair for St. Andrew, demonstrating that as he thrives from his NMC experience, he is also helping others thrive. SfH is dedicated to supporting NMC in their transformational work with students, anticipating they will pay that work forward to the rest of us.

DEIB Work

Strength in Knowing

My 40-year, re-energizing work with under-resourced, creative private schools started with hosting summer meetings to ask parents to identify the schools’ strengths, as well as the challenges I should address as the new head of school. Parents most frequently identified “the teachers know and see my child” as the most significant strength.

At the height of Covid, SfH strategic partners Jeremy Besch (Stone Bench Consulting), Randolph Carter (East Ed), and I had a conversation with an NMC school head about the importance of doing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work with her faculty. She was concerned that DEI work would initially be a tough sell, given all the challenges and demands the faculty were facing with teaching during Covid. But when we posed DEI work as a way to help faculty understand their students more deeply and support them more completely, the head indicated her faculty would be all in! That set the stage for Jeremy’s successful work with the faculty around how to tell their story more effectively, using DEI principles.

While Covid may have subsided, many challenges remain for NMC school faculties about how to support their students more deeply, given the labyrinth that lies ahead as NMC middle schoolers journey to and through high school, college, and beyond. For faculty identifying as white, a key to success is understanding the challenges their students of color are facing and will face. A key for all faculty is understanding the financial challenges their students are facing and will face, given that 94% of NMC students qualify for the federal lunch program. SfH and strategic partner East Ed plan to collaborate with NMC to create a DEIB curriculum for faculties (the added “B” is for “belonging”) to help students unleash their amazing potential—and as alums go on to transform the schools, communities, and workplaces they join. Successful DEIB work will build on the existing strength of NMC faculties, who know and see children for who they are and who they can become.