The former Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ) Committee has a new name, the Equity Committee. We made this decision for a number of reasons which we will share in future updates but in part we chose this name to avoid using an acronym which can feel abstract. We wanted to be using the word that most sums up the reason for our coming together. Our updated mandate can also be found below.
The Equity Committee supports and enacts the deeply important work towards diversity, equity, inclusion and justice at Trillium Waldorf School. The Equity Committee membership will strive to include members of Faculty, Administrative Staff, Board, Parents, and Alumni.
Equity Tri-Pillar Committee – This committee is currently made up of parents, faculty, and alumni, and sets strategic goals based on the TrWS Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice Goals: to maintain a Working Document, to learn together, and to facilitate the work of sub-committees.
Equity Hub – This committee is made up of faculty members. It meets to enact goals set by the Equity Tri-Pillar Committee, and to look into any concerns related to equity and inclusion raised by members of the TrWS community, and to propose related professional development for faculty.
You can reach the Equity Committee by emailing: deij (at) trilliumwaldorfschool.com
The following are some of the guiding documents related to Equity work at TrWS:
Equity Committee Book Recommendations
As part of our work, the Equity Committees occasionally makes book recommendations. This first set of book recommendations is on the theme of gender diversity, including trans and non-binary gender identities. The Committee have read all the books listed below and recommend them without hesitation. Click below to see the list of recommended books.
Healthy School Culture
TrWS has also been enacting the Healthy School Culture initiative to support inclusion in the culture of TrWS. The Three Streams of Student Support provide a structure for this environment and enable us to better assist students who are having difficulties educationally, socially, or behaviourally. This work is based on Kim John Payne’s approach to student development and support, and pulls heavily from the ideas of restorative justice and social-emotional intelligence. Please visit the Healthy School Culture webpage for more information.
Tuition Adjustment Program (TAP)
Trillium Waldorf School believes in the ideal that Waldorf education should be accessible to all families who wish it for its own values, regardless of their economic status, as expressed in one of our guiding principles above. We demonstrate our commitment to this ideal through our Tuition Adjustment Program (TAP), which exists to ensure that the acceptance of a child into our school does not depend solely on the financial resources of the child’s family. For more information, please click below.
Tuition Waivers for Indigenous Families
Trillium Waldorf School began offering Tuition Waivers for Indigenous Families in September 2023 as an act of reconciliation. We are compelled to this initiative to practice our values: we are kind, we are safe, we are respectful, and we are responsible, and to take a stand for equity, justice, and inclusion in education. This initiative is a small and important step to rectify some of the great wrongs of our nation, starting here at home, inside the walls of our great school. For more information, click below.