How to be an Anti-Racist School

For the past year, we have been working to bolster and make our school-wide efforts on anti-racism more explicit. While Rock Point School has long been a place of inclusivity, with an inherent focus on acceptance and diversity, we realized that there is room to become more directly engaged in confronting racism as it occurs in our school, community, and country.

During the 2020-2021 school year, staff and students participated in the anti-racism program called “Look Deeper: Race,” which consisted of six weeks of staff training, a documentary, and a facilitated discussion with students. This film and curriculum focused on the lives of five teenagers, each of whom was examining their own race and the role it plays for them. The curriculum allowed for staff- and school-wide conversations and served as a launching pad for ongoing discussion and programming throughout the school year.

Another major focus of the 20202021 school year was on the school’s history and the racism displayed by one of our key historical figures. In December of this year, several staff members and some students were involved in a discussion group run through the Episcopal Diocese, studying Bishop Hopkins’ “A Scriptural, Ecclesiastical, and Historical View of Slavery.” Hopkins, whose son founded Rock Point School in his honor, was a strong supporter of slavery; the book describes his opinions in great detail. The book study culminated in removing Hopkins’ portrait from the school’s front hall due to his pro-slavery views. Students helped the school to come to this decision and worked together on a statement about the portrait’s removal. An unexpected and welcome learning opportunity that arose from this process was an interview with the Vermont Digger, which four students took part in, resulting in an article about the school and the portrait’s removal.

During the summer of 2021, the administration team has been planning for anti-racism as an ongoing topic for staff training and professional development. We have participated in several workshops through AISNE, designed to help schools go from words to actions in their anti-racist efforts. For the upcoming school year, the staff will read a chapter of Ibram X Kendi’s “How to Be an Anti-Racist” and discuss it during our beginning of year meetings. Throughout the year, staff members will each select another book, workshop, podcast, etc., and present what we are learning and how we will apply it to our programming.

While Rock Point School has long been a place of inclusivity, . . .there is room to become more directly engaged in confronting racism as it occurs in our school, community, and country.

Removal of Bishop Hopkins Portrait

Removal of Bishop Hopkins Portrait