Justice, Equity, and Diversity

The Center School is a Sanctuary School. The Sanctuary School and Safe Zone Movement argues that schools and educational institutions do not have the legal authority or resources to engage in federal immigration enforcement and thus should not cooperate with federal agencies in their efforts to identify, detain or deport undocumented immigrant students.

In 2016, several staff members and parents came together to find a way to work towards greater justice, equity, and diversity in our school community and beyond. JED has addressed many things in the school, and has much, much more work ahead. In a time of deep and entrenched racism and classism, rising nationalism and fear, the Justice, Equity, and Diversity committee stands together, to bring forth radical, lasting change. In 2017, the Center School officially declared itself a Sanctuary School. Our policy is not to ask for immigration information on our applications and we won’t talk to ICE agents, if approached about any of our community members. Since its inception, JED has grown and matured into three separate and vital branches: one focused on curriculum, one focused on outreach and one focused on internal infrastructure.

Justice, Equity, and Diversity (JED) Mission

The mission of the Justice, Equity and Diversity Committee of the Board of Directors is to serve as a catalyst and resource for the school’s social justice work. The Center School recognizes that our culture is based on a structure of power that benefits the few at the expense of the majority. The Center School is committed to dismantling these systems through the lenses of curriculum, community and infrastructure and to inspire through deep thinking and transformative action.

The Center School resides and operates on the traditional and ancestral land of the Pocumtuc peoples. We also recognize the Nipmuc, Abenaki, Wampanoag, and Mohican peoples, our neighboring indigenous nations. 

The Center School accepts that this acknowledgement is just a tiny step in the journey to reckon with the effects of the colonial past in this region, and is not a substitute for authentic and meaningful dialogue with indigenous communities. We remain committed to learning more of our past, and being an active accomplice/ally in the present.