Diversity & Inclusion

At Bowman, we are committed to uplifting our community through justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.

JUSTICE

We commit to dismantling resource barriers to keep Bowman attainable for a wide variety of families and to support members of our diverse student body and staff in achieving educational goals and personal growth. We are accountable for ensuring that each member of our student body and faculty achieves goals and personal growth.

DIVERSITY

We admit that differences between individuals cause some to experience systemic advantages or barriers to opportunities. Diversity goes beyond racial differences. It is our role as educators to educate our students on how systemic oppression manifests in racial and ethnic access and outcome disparities and to identify paths to meaningful change.

EQUITY

We commit to allocating resources to ensure everyone has access to the same opportunities. We acknowledge that systemic advantages and barriers exist. It is our role as educators to educate our students to understand the systematic oppression that is a pervasive part of our society, including the power of language and microaggressions.

INCLUSION

We believe in fostering a sense of belonging by centering, valuing, and amplifying the voices, perspectives, and styles of those who experience more barriers due to their identities, abilities, or beliefs. It is our role to honor the contributions of those who experience barriers every day, not just during a special month. We commit to ridding our curriculum and materials of biases that reproduce Whiteness; to amplify diverse voices; and to teach with an awareness of our personal unconscious biases.

Celebrating Inclusivity

Bowman is dedicated to Montessori’s vision of world peace and global citizenship. Bowman’s founders sought to create a program that is internationally aware and thus we have always celebrated differences and inclusivity.

Bowman students at every age engage in conversations about justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion and celebrate cultures from around the world through the culture curriculum and in classrooms in general.

Children at all levels participate in peace-building activities, such as International Day of Peace and lessons on the promotion of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion both in the classroom and in enrichment activities.

At Bowman, grace and courtesy lessons develop a sense of self-awareness that enables children to be resilient and encourages them to become caring and compassionate members of the community.

Windows & Mirrors

We believe the classroom materials and literature should always contain both “mirrors” to see one’s self represented and “windows” to see a diversity of experiences.

Mirrors contain reflections of the viewer – their race, culture, gender, family, or religion. They enable students to see themselves. Engaging with their own identities can help to reaffirm the value of students’ selves and experiences.
Windows enable the viewer to observe experiences of others, including unique events, places, or cultural practices that they may not be familiar with. Engaging with other groups supports students in developing an understanding of the world.

At Bowman, we are sensitive, kind, and accepting. From literature and materials, students internalize messages about who should be represented and whose stories deserve to be told. At Bowman, we commit to ensuring that the messages in our curriculum and classrooms align with our values.

Non-Discrimination Statement

Bowman School is a non-profit organization. We are a non-denominational, co-educational school enrolling and providing education to children, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of our activities or operations.