Our mission as a School is to educate students to build purposeful lives in service to the greater good.
We draw from the tenets of the Episcopal Church’s “Becoming Beloved Community” to advance racial healing, reconciliation, and justice in our School and in the world. Ultimately, our graduates carry with them the exhortation from the Last Night Prayer, “[k]indle in our hearts the honest purpose to do right.”
As a fully residential academic community founded in the Episcopal tradition and rooted in enduring humanistic values, St. Paul’s School welcomes and affirms the dignity of all human beings. Increasing diversity, strengthening inclusivity, and deepening equity require deep listening, open hearts, and open minds. We honor and affirm the experiences of our students, faculty, and staff. We take seriously our responsibility to equip our students to engage the world as global citizens who aspire to transform the world in service of the greater good and Beloved Community.
We encourage you to read the National Association of Episcopal Schools’ “Statement on Inclusion and Episcopal Identity.”
Through deep listening and learning in different contexts and spaces, St. Paul’s School works to respect the dignity of every human being and to enhance community life by actively responding to the needs of a wonderfully diverse mix of students, faculty, staff, alumni/ae, and families.
Under the leadership of Bethany Dickerson Wynder, director of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, the School continues its commitment to integrate DEIJ work into community life through the development of new programs and structures that deepen existing partnerships and collaborations among students, faculty, staff, and SPS alumni of color. The director provides a central hub to support the Faculty DEIJ Council, the Student DEIJ Council, the emerging Interfaith Council, and with members of the Office of Advancement in developing an outreach plan for alumni/alumnae of color.
The Council’s work centers on identifying sustainable initiatives within the SPS community that support DEIJ as a defining ethos for life and work at the School. The Council partners with various groups on the grounds to enhance practices, policies, and procedures that foster inclusivity and a sense of belonging for every member of the community.
In September 2020, the School created the Student DEIJ Council, a student-led group whose purpose is to focus on issues pertaining to identity at SPS and serve as an advisory board to the Rector and the School’s administration. The Council is a vital voice on DEIJ initiatives and planning and works to increase student input and partner with the Faculty DEIJ Council.
St. Paul’s School has 14 student affinity and alliance groups that are run by students, with support from faculty advisers. These groups provide safe spaces for students with shared identities or commitments to a cause to connect with each other and help foster greater dialogue and awareness throughout the SPS community.
In 2017, the School’s Board of Trustees charged the SPS Task Force on Inclusive Community to create action plans to further the School’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity and identify resources that would be required to move these plans forward.
Since then, members of the School community have worked collaboratively to implement the task force report recommendations and identify areas of additional opportunity and challenge. The work is ongoing, and the commitment is unwavering.
St. Paul’s School sponsors and partners with leading organizations actively engaged in the work of DEI education. These organizations include:
SPS actively recruits, hires, and retains a wide-ranging mix of talented faculty and staff. St. Paul’s School is committed to educating its faculty members as well as its students with a comprehensive professional development program devoted to building a vibrant and inclusive community.
St. Paul’s School invites many guest speakers to share their experiences and points of view with the School community. A partial list includes:
