Gender Equity, Sexuality & Consent Task Force
PART 1 This is part one of a two-part communication from the Gender Equity, Sexuality & Consent Task Force. This week, the Task Force will share what we learned from last year's community listening circles and research with peer schools.
The week of September 27, you will receive a second communication that outlines our implementation plan for the 2021-2022 school year based on our newfound knowledge. We are breaking this into two communications since we recognize it is a lot of information.
As a reminder, last year the Gender Equity, Sexuality & Consent Task Force:
After a year of study and work the Task Force has established goals that will address the community's hopes and concerns. Below you will see details of what we heard and the goals that have been established. CURRICULUM "I think we talk about healthy relationships and we talk about sex and they completely miss each other on these two topics and we do not talk about the role of healthy relationships in human sexuality." — Penn Charter Student
"I think a lot of reasons that my kids are at a private school is that they can talk about this. I hope my kids come home feeling unsettled and they talk about difficult things, but I want them to have critical thinking. I do not want PC to avoid these conversations, but I want it to be an idea, I do not want a teachers' opinion to dictate — I want it to be critical thinking PreK - 12." — Penn Charter Parent
"We need to get parents more involved, need to make more of a connection between school and home, and also we need more training for teachers. We need to train teachers to be able to have these conversations, we know when they are not comfortable. We need to normalize these conversations so that we can talk to each other. I like these listening circles and want more spaces like these." — Penn Charter Student The Curriculum Working Group learned that the Penn Charter community is eager to push beyond a basic sex-ed curriculum to a more expansive, holistic, and positive conception of sexuality. There was a consistent message that PC's human sexuality curriculum should begin in younger grades and should be more integrated with the curriculum beyond Physical Education and Health. Participants also indicated the need for repeated — but not constant — opportunities for students to define, identify and practice appropriate relationship-building and conflict resolution. Our community understands everyone has a right to personal boundaries and should be unashamedly at home in one's own skin. We are excited with the hiring of a new Health, Wellness and Sexuality Educator and look forward to working with Emma Cohen-Westbrooke to achieve the goals outlined below.
Curriculum Goals
POLICIES AND PROCEDURES "I think people need to know how to advocate for themselves. Often when people do this, people feel they get shut down. Often students try to tell when something happens and then believe there are no repercussions, and this can not be the case. We need systems and structures to support the follow-up and we need to know how to use them." — Penn Charter Student
"We need to hold students and faculty accountable when they say or do things that do not fit our school values." — Penn Charter Faculty Member The Policies and Procedures Working Group found a need for increased trust in student leadership and updates to the Community Code, as well as new structures for communicating our school's values and consequences of violations.
Policies and Procedures Goals
CULTURE AND COMMUNITY HEALING "I am concerned that we don't create an environment where students can have mutually beneficial and respectful friendships across gender in particular. I think that that is actually really problematic for all students." — PC Faculty Member
some classes where we feel we can be our whole selves, but then go into the hallways and feel unsafe, we just expect there to be comments." — Penn Charter Student
The Culture and Community Healing Working Group identified key areas for immediate exploration: the assessment and consistent monitoring of school culture, elevation of student voice in accountability processes, an increased focus on restorative practices, and training for faculty, staff, and students to support use of these restorative practices.
Culture and Community Healing Goals
NEXT STEPS This year, recognizing the intersectionality of this work with the work being done by the Race & Equity Task Force, we are intentionally looking for ways to collaborate as we move forward with our action plans.
Though we know our community holds many different opinions about the ideal future of Penn Charter, we believe the Penn Charter community's participation in our discovery process and the emerging plan for action is leading to an even stronger version of our community. And, importantly, we believe this work will contribute to a community in which all students feel safe and supported.
The Gender Equity, Sexuality & Consent Task Force looks forward to our continued work contributing to an improved version of the already-strong institution we all love. Next week, please watch for Part 2 of this update.
Co-Clerks Alyson Goodner OPC '96, P '33 '35 Director of the Center for Public Purpose |