Diversity
MCDS is committed to creating a school that is inclusive and reflective of the larger community in which we reside. We honor and celebrate differences of race, culture, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability and family structure and seek to provide a complete educational experience that values those differences and what they bring to our school community.
Our curriculum is intentional in its structure and seamlessly infuses multicultural education into every aspect of its design. Our administrators and trustees are purposeful in crafting initiatives that support the practices to help fulfill the mission and strategic work of our school.
Hiring faculty and staff to mirror our institution’s beliefs and values, supporting professional development opportunities on the topic of diversity and multicultural literacy is a primary goal of the school.
Our community actively seeks better ways to support our members through affinity groups, community conversations around diversity, multicultural curriculum, service learning and global connections and student-centered activities that explore these important topics.
In addition, an indexed tuition model supports our commitment to economic diversity. The school has from its founding been committed to making an MCDS education accessible to families from all walks of life. The school charges a wide range of tuitions on a basis that takes into consideration a family’s ability to pay. Economic diversity enriches the educational experience for all families, and MCDS is determined to keep the school accessible to families across the full spectrum of economic backgrounds.
Our ultimate goal is to produce graduates that are not only academically competent, but aware of the issues that face them as they move out into the world. Our students will be empowered as future leaders to initiate positive change in an ever evolving world.
MCDS Statement of Community and Inclusion
Our Mission
Our school is a community that
Inspires children to develop a love of learning, thoughtful perspectives, and a diversity of skills;
Nurtures in each of them a deep sense of respect, responsibility and compassion; and
Challenges them to envision and work toward a better world.
Our Community
We are an intentionally diverse community of adults and children who share the core values of respect, responsibility and compassion. To successfully realize our mission and values, each of us must actively help build and cultivate our multifaceted community by developing cultural competency: the will and ability to create, nurture and sustain authentic relationships across differences.*
We define diversity as including, but not limited to, the human facets that collectively and historically correlate with differences in social experiences and, in turn, give rise to diverse perspectives: race, ethnicity, national origin, geography, religion, gender, affectional or sexual orientation, learning style, age, physical ability, family structure and economic status.**
In living our mission and values, all community members must be willing to take intellectual and emotional risks; learn from mistakes, improve upon successes; show persistence, integrity, flexibility and courage in solving problems and, through it all, maintain a sense of wonder and of fun. Each of us has much to offer and much to learn.
Ours is a community that would be uncomfortable without diversity. We expect all our members to honor and value multiple ideas and experiences, seek missing voices and embrace one another's story. We understand the interrelatedness of our local, national and global communities. We work cooperatively, value human dgnity and advocate for social justice. We appreciate that our work in all of this is iterative, ongoing and never done.
Our Vision
Our community members inspire, nurture and challenge one another. Grounded by these core values through their MCDS education, our students gain the knowledge, skills and character necessary to step up and lead effective and fulfilling lives as engaged global citizens in a complex multicultural and interdependent world.
* - Adapted in part from national diversity educator Gary Howard and The Blake School (MN).
** - Adapted in part from the work of Alison Park at Blink Consulting.
