Written by John Novick, Jr., Head of School

While we recognize we still have much to do, NPES’ commitment to its DEIB work has never been stronger. For instance:

• 28% of our students now self-identify as students of color through their parents (and we now attract students from 17 Chicago zip codes)
• All faculty and full-time staff have completed at least one SEED seminar
• NPES employees are now actively engaged in DEIB-related work through both ISACS and NAIS, learning and leading on regional and national levels while representing our small school with a big impact
• NPES faculty have developed and adopted specific DEI Standards, and are now working to integrate them into our curriculum across all grade levels
• As an extension of their social studies curriculum, eighth grades now explore the Civil Rights Movement in person through an annual civil rights tour of Georgia and Alabama
• Nearly 1 in 5 teachers at the school now identify as people of color
• Our Cultural Celebrations Parent Group partners with the school to integrate multicultural experiences–and identity mirrors–into the student and family experience at NPES
• NPES’ Neurodivergence Parent Group partners to help educate our community about the many gifts and rich perspectives divergent learners bring to academic discourse and community life (in April 2025 the group is co-hosting a screening of Anxious Nation: Harnessing Anxious Energy for Good at NPES with Laura Morton, the filmmaker, in attendance)
• The school’s Social Justice Film Series broadens perspectives and deepens understanding of the complex equity and justice issues facing our city and nation today (and in our history)
• NPES’ Middle School PRIDE Alliance is now in its third year of bringing students together to affirm and celebrate LGBTQ+ members of our community and nurture allyship 
• All NPES students learn about gender identity development and equity, as well as health and well-being, from the team at Lurie Children’s Hospital, who come to our school to teach students multiple times per year
• Our faculty/staff Diversity Action Team (DAT) engages annually in important conversations about diversity and equity at NPES, identifying actions they can take to strengthen belonging for all  
• Last year the school launched its first formal financial aid program

Our most recent work, in addition to integrating the aforementioned DEI standards into the curriculum, is in partnership with Brian Corley of Single Story, Inc, who has challenged us to ask, How does an independent school committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion create and sustain a community in which dignity and belonging are the norm for all? 

This November our faculty and staff engaged in an incredibly useful and energizing workshop with Brian in which the value of recognizing and nurturing our interdependence was considered. As Brian put it, “What if everyone walked into every room at NPES expecting to be needed, expecting to need others, and open to the possibility of being changed through the conversation?”

As a school that believes that "students learn in impactful and enduring ways when their academic studies are inquiry-based, collaborative, innovative, challenging, and fun”; that “all children deserve to feel safe bringing their authentic selves to their teachers and peers, knowing they belong”; that “human beings develop a richer understanding across fields of study when they seek out and learn from multiple and diverse perspectives”; and that “children thrive in their quest to develop their best selves when they seek to help their communities become more inclusive and just” (four of NPES’ ten Core Educational Beliefs), embracing interdependence is vital. 

Interdependence can be defined as a relationship between two or more people in which all maintain their own autonomy and nurture their relationship at the same time. These relationships are supportive, as members recognize and embrace their shared goals of meeting one another’s needs, as well as their own. Members of the community interact and are engaged with optimism, authenticity, and flexible thinking believing that everyone is needed, everyone needs, and the mission of the organization can only be achieved when interdependence is centered as both a value and a daily practice. 

Today, NPES is striving to do just that, cultivate an engaging culture of interdependence and belonging that includes everyone, not in a vacuum, but as a foundation, with social-emotional health and well-being, for rigorous teaching and learning that empowers students in their hearts and minds to help their communities become more inclusive and just. In this way, we are seeking to integrate DEIB work fully into the lived experience of students, faculty/staff, and families at North Park Elementary School. And as is the case in all that we achieve at our school-–belonging work can certainly be complex and challenging as we strive everyday to live up to our ideals—we achieve more when we work together.