Faculty and Staff Programs and Initiatives

Beyond the generous support for professional development that NA faculty enjoy, the Office of Equity and Inclusion works with NA’s Professional Development Committee to implement on-site equity and inclusion professional development opportunities grounded in our new DEI statement, Community Commitments, and focused on guidelines for preventing and interrupting bias-related incidents in and outside of the classroom. Additionally, at the start of the academic year, the Director of Equity and Inclusion publishes a listing of regional professional development opportunities that faculty can elect to attend.

Each year Newark Academy sends a significant cohort of faculty, staff, administrators, parents, alumni, and members of the board of trustees to the NAIS People of Color Conference.

Initiated in the spring of 2020, Newark Academy’s Faculty and Staff of Color Professional Network serves as a space for self-identified faculty and staff of color at Newark Academy to connect, find support for professional growth at NA and beyond, and receive informal mentorship and coaching. Through monthly meetings, this group aims to engage in reading and discussion of relevant articles, share advice and effective strategies, or simply hang.

Formed in the spring of 2021, this group’s goal is to support the growth and professional development of all employees who self-identify as a woman at Newark Academy. The NA Women’s Leadership Network offers periodic professional workshops, informal mentorship, and general support and advocacy for issues impacting women.

The White Anti-Racist Educators (WARE) professional learning community was started in the spring of 2020 following our community’s reading of Robin DiAngelo’s text White Fragility. The learning community offers white identified faculty and staff an opportunity to continue their growth and learn how to act as better white allies as well as effective practices and strategies for implementing anti-racist curriculum and pedagogies.

Four faculty and staff members from the middle and upper school serve as Advisors to the Equity and Inclusion Team (EIT). EIT Advisors Support the Director of Equity and Inclusion with the education and advising of student members of EIT, development and implementation of equity and inclusion initiatives and programs, and annual recruitment and onboarding of new student members of EIT.

Faculty and staff who serve on the teaching team for the Creating Community 9: Tools for Belonging course, work on curriculum development and implementation of this course aimed at helping students "explore issues of difference, diversity, equity, inclusion, social justice and belonging in an effort to form a school community in which all may thrive as their authentic selves."

Faculty and staff who serve on the Equity and Inclusion Committee, which is composed of one representative from each major constituency at Newark Academy, support the development, implementation, and ongoing assessment of a decentralized plan for diversity, equity, and inclusion at Newark Academy. Members of the committee act as thought leaders, ambassadors, supporters, and (when appropriate) implementers of campus-wide strategic diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and capacity building opportunities.

Faculty and staff who serve affinity group facilitators set ground rules, create agendas, support active involvement of all participants in the group, pose questions to members of the group for discussion, and gather data about possible issues or challenges that need to be addressed to better support students.