The Grace Way emerges from bedrock commitments of the school. Our Episcopal identity calls us to recognize the inherent and precious value of every individual. It makes us strive to provide an education worthy of that shared humanity, which includes our human fallibility and limitations. It leads us to prize critical thinking, intellectual humility, and the importance of encountering a myriad of views with respect for the dignity of those who hold them. Our mission is to provide an outstanding education, one fueled by pleasure in learning and distinguished by the confident mastery of academic skills and the development of an active ethical consciousness. That mission depends upon our students feeling a deep and abiding sense of belonging. And our history contains a longstanding commitment to the people of our community, whom we strive to treat with kindness, fairness, welcome, and love. 

Grace’s values commitment statement, included in full below, is the result of conversations with multiple constituencies across the community, including students, families, faculty, staff, alumni, alumni families, and trustees. By offering—and hearing—concerns and feedback with honesty and humility, the School community arrived at a common understanding of its commitment to equity, inclusion, and antiracism and its desire to champion these values. The statement, adopted by the Grace Church School Board of Trustees in 2018, is one part of the important, ongoing, and collaborative work the School is undertaking as it strives to build a more just and inclusive world for all.

The School’s attention to antiracism offers tools to help combat bias in other forms. The knowledge, skills, and competencies that Grace seeks to cultivate in its students serve and strengthen its efforts to grapple with all forms of discrimination and injustice.

 

 

Grace Church School seeks to provide its students with an outstanding education and with the desire to use it to make the world a better place.  Every facet of our work is enhanced by the diversity and strength of our community.  We believe that equity and inclusion are not only hallmarks of a just society, but also virtues essential to sound learning.  And so, Grace seeks to recognize and honor the unique gifts of its students, families, faculty, and staff—and the cultures, beliefs, values, and experiences that have shaped them—striving always to cultivate mutual understanding, humility, respect, and kindness.

 

But inclusion is not enough and equity is an impossibility if we cannot name, acknowledge, and oppose the forces of racism and all forms of bias, hate, and fear that exist in our society and that seek to diminish so many in our midst.  Knowing this, we commit ourselves to the work of anti-racism and to the cause of justice:  that all students may find in Grace a home, may learn from Grace their precious worth, and may hear from Grace a call to serve the common good and the dignity of humanity.