News Belongingness at Cannon School “You Belong Here” is not just a tagline at Cannon School, but words our community strives to incorporate into our culture each day. To us, belongingness means every person, in celebration of their background and perspectives, is welcomed, accepted, and living our mission and core values. In addition, "You Belong Here" means that each person's voice is welcomed. We truly believe that we are better together, and we have built our community on valuing each person’s contributions. In that spirit, and arising from our Strategic Design, a committee for Diversity, Belongingness, and Engagement was formed last spring. The committee’s tasks for this year include: • Interpret and present to faculty and staff the findings from our community-wide Inclusivity Index.
Our Commitment to Diversity, Belongingness, and Engagement: Many Individuals, Many Perspectives; One Mission, One Set of Core Values; Knowing We Belong Here. Our Individual Agreements: We listen, learn, and grow. We read and think critically to seek understanding. We model and practice curiosity. We welcome and engage in difficult conversations. We value proximity and practice perspective-taking.
• Finalize, publish, and educate our community about our Board of Trustees' adopted Commitment to Belongingness and Engagement (see at right).
We question ideas; we nuture people.
• Refresh and re-imagine our partnership with Parents At Cannon group Cannon Cultures.
We seek fairness.
• Study and evaluate the value of a dedicated role on campus to support efforts in the areas of community engagement and belongingness. The committee looks forward to continuing work that will unite and strengthen our greater Cannon community! 24 | CANNON | Winter/Spring 2022
Out Community Agreements:
We confront and address behavior that is harmful and hurtful. We use processes that ensure identities do not predict outcomes. We explore decisions together, inclusive of many perspectives. We welcome all voices and share our experiences.
