In 2004, the Diversity Committee was formed. Our mission has always been to coordinate parent and school resources in order to insure that diversity is maintained at Sands at a scale that reflects our city. True diversity exists when it is evident in school enrollment, family participation, and parent leadership. We seek to achieve such diversity primarily through three strategies:

1. Creating opportunities for families to interact across racial and cultural lines in order to foster understanding and appreciation.

2. Developing educational opportunities that promote the value of diversity.

3. Advocating for full inclusion of specific population groups that are underrepresented in our school in order to achieve student representation comparable to the demographics of the East Quadrant.

It has been a pleasure serving as chair these past five years. I will truly miss the Sands Community. A special thanks to all the wonderful people who served with me throughout the years. Jennifer Strom, Laurie Weil, Timothy Grondin, Debbie Manggrum, Debbie Happe, Ana Miller- Cronin, Ted Christian, Denise Richardson, and Julie Doepke. Thanks to Rita and the staff for always supporting us. I’m excited to announce that Miriam McKenney has volunteered to chair the committee next year. Please feel free to send an email to minal@fuse.net if you are interested in being apart of the diversity committee next year.

I close with a quote from our Belief Statement: “We encourage appropriate activities and events which foster learning about the diversity of our world, because we believe that the mosaic of our differences strengthens our collective life experiences.”

Respectively
Marina Hopkins, chair