Dear Hartsbrook Community,

The murder of George Floyd is devastating both as a single event and as one in a long line of acts of police violence against black people in this country. We stand in solidarity with those who are rising up to say that state violence against people of color cannot and should never be tolerated. We keenly feel the grief, rage, and clarity expressed by so many across our country in the past days.  

In this moment of global crisis, as we witness black and brown people disproportionately suffering and dying from the pandemic, we are called upon to face the pain of racism individually and in comm

unity. As a Waldorf school working on behalf of children, these events quicken the urgency with which we must work to transform Hartsbrook. We are committed to a vision of transforming the system of power-over and unequal distribution of privilege to a world in which we co-create the future in mutuality, justice, and love.  

The Hartsbrook School is dedicated to dismantling racism and oppression, to continuing to learn and grow and ask the difficult questions of ourselves, our communities, and the world. To quote James Baldwin, “not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”  It is important that we, with a sense of truth and a feeling of responsibility, face those things in our community and ourselves that are most difficult. We call on our community to take up the work of dismantling racism, starting in our own families, with our own children, as well as in our local communities and in the larger world. For resources and ideas about how to engage with this work, please contact idea@hartsbrook.org

Our colleagues at NAEYC speak our heart’s thoughts and we are grateful for their wisdom:  “We commit to standing with you and relentlessly working together to create a school community where each and every child, family, and educator can thrive.” 

In Community,

Virginia McWilliam, Pedagogical Chair

Frances Cameron, Administrative Chair

Swansea Benham Bleicher, Board Chair

Janis Abbingsole, IDEA Committee Chair