Community

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Greenwood is committed to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive community that fosters a sense of belonging.
Our approach to bringing greater Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging to Greenwood is focused on creating real, lasting change, and on ensuring that our entire community is moving towards this goal. We are examining our systems and structures for bias and identifying concrete action steps to address that bias - and, critically, we are benchmarking our work over time to ensure that we are making real progress.

On this page, you'll find information on the action we're taking to build a more diverse, equitable and inclusive community. You'll also find resources that can help us all to live these values in every aspect of our lives. Look for frequent updates!

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: 2021-2022 Year In Review

Greenwood’s overall goal for our 2021-2022 diversity, equity and inclusion work was to create a strong foundation from which to build in the future. We need to know ourselves and our identities before entering into deep diversity and community work. With that in mind, our focus in 2021-2022 was equipping students and staff with the introspective tools and practices they needed to better understand themselves. “You can’t do anything until you understand what you bring to the table,” says Rachael Brownell-Swain, Director, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Outreach.

Professional Development Plan
Rachael developed a five-phase professional development plan for all staff for the 2021-2022 school year (see below for an overview and some sample presentations). Year 1 of the plan focused on building a solid understanding of anti-racism and anti-oppression education; in the years to come, all staff will build upon that foundation to create positive and inclusive communities at the school. 

Phase 1
Self-Education (anti-racism, anti-oppression, social justice, current expectations, culturally responsive pedagogy, curriculum)
Presentation: Disruption Through Discourse 
Phase 2
Curriculum Gaps (developing units of study, making curriculum changes, examining course content) 
Presentation: Creating Equity in the Classroom
Phase 3
Avoiding Performativity (developing classroom and community cultures, developing allyship behaviours, avoiding performative allyship, authenticity in all spaces) 
Presentation: Allyship in Action
Phase 4
Disrupting and Dismantling (positive intervention, redirecting, creating programming and policies)  
Phase 5 
Critical Allyship and Planning for Change (What does critical allyship look like in your interactions? Your workspaces? Your classroom? How do we plan for change in the coming year?)

RIDES Assessment
Greenwood has adopted the Reimagining Integration: Diversity and Equity in Schools (RIDES) model from Harvard University, a research-backed framework that gives schools the tools to support and measure deep work in diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. We piloted this framework over the 2020-2021 school year with success (read the 2020-2021 RIDES evaluation report).
In 2021-2022, our aim was to put the next steps identified in 2020-2021 into action while also looking closely at programs, practices and curriculum. Along the way, we are continuing to measure our progress in fostering diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging using the benchmarks we have created. Additionally, we wanted to explore additional lenses on school life and spheres of influence in order to identify additional opportunities for growth and change.

Read the 2021-2022 RIDES evaluation report now.

Community Themes
We created themes for each term of the 2021-2022 school year that tied together the DEI work for that term. For example, Term 1 was “Identities”, with the first three months of the year focusing on Indigenous identities, 2SLGBTQ+ identities and the legacy of identity, respectively. Each term began with community-building activities related to empathy, encouraging students to truly consider others’ perspectives and reflect on how they can be effective allies.

DEI Staff Advisory Committee
The new DEI Advisory Committee was created with the goal of encouraging staff members to explore their own areas of influence within the context of creating an equitable school grounded in anti-oppression and anti-racist thinking. Committee members examine existing systems and structures at Greenwood that may present barriers to equity and inclusion and present recommendations to school leadership based on their findings.

Panorama Survey
In the spring of 2022, we undertook a whole-school Equity and Inclusion Survey through Panorama, a company that delivers high-quality surveying tools for many communities and organizations. The results of the survey established valuable benchmark data that will inform policy, programming and systemic growth at Greenwood moving forward; we will track progress on these benchmarks through repeating the survey in the future.

What’s Next
We engaged deeply with issues concerning the development of equity, inclusion and diversity within our community in 2021-2022, and we are excited to continue and build upon this work for 2022-2023. Areas of focus for this year include:
  • Centring student voice
  • Social justice
  • Curriculum review (both content and instructional practice)
We look forward to sharing our progress on this important work with you.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Resources

List of 5 items.

Diversity Statement

Greenwood is committed to helping students develop all aspects of their character. We want to prepare our students to make a positive difference in the world – and that means fostering a respectful, diverse and inclusive community. We aim to embrace individuals whose differences include, but are not limited to: age, ancestry, citizenship, colour, creed, disability, ethnic origin, family status, gender expression, gender identity, marital status, place of origin, race, or sexual orientation. We strive to develop students’ cultural awareness and competency by weaving diverse perspectives into every part of school life.

Community News

List of 5 news stories.

  • Jennifer Holness addresses the school at Monday's assembly.

    Celebration of Identity: Black History Month

    Tihmily Li, Communications Officer
    February is Black History Month and earlier this week we welcomed Jennifer Holness, who spoke about how to empower Black stories and perspectives.
    Read More
  • Students each make their way to the microphone to speak about why they remember.

    International Holocaust Remembrance Day

    Tihmily Li, Communications Officer
    On January 27, Greenwood observed International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a moving tribute from students.
    Read More
  • Daniella Lurion (right, standing) addresses the Greenwood Community.

    On Language

    Tihmily Li, Communications Officer
    We welcomed Daniella Lurion from Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center on January 16 for a powerful presentation regarding the impact of language and how it can be used in the digital world.
    Read More
  • Caymus Ruffalo '23 (left centre) and Evan Edgell '24 (right centre) posed with Curtis Li '23 (left) and Ellie Deegan '23 (right) after they received recognition for their leadership. Ella Davidson '23 was not present at the assembly.

    Recognizing Lunar New Year, Student Leaders and House Standings

    Tihmily Li, Communications Officer
    On January 23, we recognized the new Lunar Year, student leadership awards and updated House standings at our House assembly.
    Read More
  • The Tour for Humanity presenter speaks to the class about the Holocaust.

    Lessons in Humanity

    Tihmily Li, Communications Officer
    For Holocaust Education Week, students built upon their understanding through Tour for Humanity sessions and a Community Time activity.
    Read More
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Greenwood College School

443 Mount Pleasant Road
Toronto, ON M4S 2L8
Tel: 416 482 9811
We acknowledge with gratitude the Ancestral lands upon which our main campus is situated. These lands are the Ancestral territories of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, Anishinabek and the Wendake. The shared responsibility of this land is honoured in the Dish with One Spoon Treaty and as settlers, we strive to care for the land, the waters, and all creatures in the spirit of peace. We are responsible for respecting and supporting the enduring presence of all First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. When away from this campus we vow to be respectful to the land by protecting and honouring it. We will create relationships with the people and the land we may visit by understanding the territories we enter and the nations who inhabit them.
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