Committing to Equity in Education

Dear Masterman families,

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your extraordinary support in ensuring another successful year at Masterman, despite the pandemic. What is central to keeping an education successful is an environment where students continue to thrive.

Committing to equity in education is a vital part of that environment that we can embrace and be clear that it benefits everyone. It strengthens a community so that all students can have a fair path to success. To that end, over the past few years we have worked with Steppingstone Scholars, an organization devoted to addressing educational inequality by creating pathways to educational opportunities that lead to college. Developing a long term, broader relationship with Steppingstone Scholars will align with many of the initiatives that grew out of our SAC Diversity Committee. Over the past few years we set out to:

  • increase diversity in applicants to Masterman
  • increase faculty of color
  • integrate more professional development around implicit bias and culturally sensitive classrooms
  • support after school clubs that focus on diversity
  • examine our academic programming

We believe that we have made a good start on these goals, but there is still much work to be done. By expanding our relationship with Steppingstone Scholars, we expect to be able to support these equity initiatives more robustly at Masterman. As a result, together with Steppingstone Scholars we developed a potential position for the 2020-2021 school year that would support and increase racially and economically underrepresented populations at Masterman, as well as provide initiatives to support students of color’s social, emotional, and leadership development from middle school to college.

To meet those goals, we are launching a fundraising campaign through PhillyFUNDamentals on the School District of Philadelphia  to be able to support this position and hope that you will consider contributing. Below is the description of the position that is posted on the Philly Fundamentals site. If you have any questions, please contact me at jebrown@philasd.org.

Starting on Monday, June 22nd donations can be made to: https://foundationgive.com/campaigns/5844/masterman-equity-coordinator

Thank you for considering a donation!

 

Equity Coordinator Position Description

Thanks to a special partnership with Steppingstone Scholars, Masterman is seeking funding to support a new and timely addition to our support staff. The Equity Coordinator will support and increase racially and economically underrepresented populations at Masterman. This individual will also be key to diversity initiatives, such as recruiting and awareness training, as well as advising students throughout their academic career in coordination with school leadership and counselors.

Position Goals:

  • Design and coordinate programming and initiatives to support students of color’s social, emotional, and leadership development from middle school to college
  • Support recruitment of academically prepared students of color via outreach to community-based programs and through Steppingstone Scholars schools and programs
  • Support college access programming, including the college application process, FAFSA completion, and various workshops
  • Support pipeline of Masterman’s students of color from middle school to high school
  • Oversee existing external partnerships to ensure on-going communication and engagement
  • Support dual enrollment participation in Steppingstone’s programming
  • Implement “How to Apply for College” coursework for high school juniors while building buy-in from teachers to utilize in classroom
  • Support summer programming including recruitment, internship coordination, and workforce/career development
  • Starting on Monday, June 22nd donations can be made to: https://foundationgive.com/campaigns/5844/masterman-equity-coordinator

Thank you! We hope that we can achieve our fundraising goal!