March 16, 2020
Dear SRI Community,
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis is impacting all of us. As governments work to address this global outbreak, we hope you are taking care of yourselves and your families. In the last week, we have seen school systems across the country respond to this health crisis by closing schools and taking such measures as providing food to children who live in communities that had limited access to resources prior to this issue. As an organization with an equity-focused mission, we can’t help but think about the ways in which this national crisis will add to persisting inequities in our communities’ schools that cannot be addressed by quick-fixes and simple solutions. As champions in this work we are charged with naming the inequities that exist in our schools, acknowledging the ways we perpetuate them, and then working together to dismantle them.
Our fierce commitment to equity and excellence requires us to take thoughtful, collective action in the midst of challenging times to support educators with meeting the needs of all students. The SRI community genuinely cares about the students and communities we serve and have recognized prior to this crisis that schools as they currently exist need to improve so that all students have the chance to succeed. As schools plan to support students through alternative measures, we must be the voice of reasonable discourse to constantly ask the difficult questions. Who is not being served well by this plan of action? What do we need to know and be able to do to meet the needs of our most vulnerable student populations given this plan? In what ways is this plan a quick-fix, and what needs to change to make it a sustainable approach to a problem that may persist longer than we expect? These questions require that we learn and work together to address them. Loving and caring about all students is at the center of where we start.
SRI is committed to be a resource as educators reflect on their own learning needs in order to support their students. Now more than ever, educators will need to capitalize on the power of creating spaces that support learning as a community. We have developed a series of webinars that we anticipate you will find useful to create that community virtually. We cannot afford to put the work of achieving equity and excellence on the back burner. Equity must be at the forefront of our professional learning in order to guide our professional practice even through virtual platforms. Please access our calendar of events in the coming weeks for virtual learning opportunities.
In the meantime, be good to yourselves. Focus on boosting your immunity through getting enough rest, and through attending to your physical and mental well-being. Also, please reach out to SRI for tools as you plan to support educators who rely on you for their professional learning and development.
Sincerely,
Dr. Deirdre S. Williams, Executive Director
on Behalf of the School Reform Initiative
