Cinnaminson Schools Making Strides On Racial Equity

CINNAMINSON, NJ — The Cinnaminson Public School District recently updated the public on its recent anti-racist efforts. The effort was launched after a group of current Cinnaminson High School students and alumni organized a rally for racial justice at Wood Park.

“Our young activists did a phenomenal job using their voices to call for real change,” Superintendent of Schools Stephen Cappello and Board of Education President Laura Fitzwater said in a joint letter to the community. “It was during that peaceful assembly that I made a pledge that Cinnaminson Schools would engage in anti-racist work.”

They provided the following information in the district’s first update:

• Each school has developed an equity team tasked with creating a more inclusive environment for students and staff. They have been meeting since the start of the school year.
• The school district is partnering with racial literacy consultants, The Lions Story. As part of this partnership, Lions Story Founder and University of Pennsylvania Professor Dr. Howard Stevenson shared his experiences with the entire district during a two-hour presentation.
• The Board of Education is working outside normal meeting hours to discuss racial stress and trauma in an effort to better understand themselves and those who are underserved.
• Leaders of each of the district’s equity teams engaged in 15-hour Lions Story training.
• The Board of Education is engaging in a book study on Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism.”
• The high school’s equity team is working with New Jersey Department of Education Amistad Commission Director Dr. Stephanie Harris for a series of activities for students to complement the staff professional development.
• The middle school equity team derived data from several of the Harvard Implicit Association Tests designed to identify implicit biases among people.
• Eleanor Rush Intermediate School Assistant Principal Kate Melee completed a certificate program on equity and diversity through Cornell University, then shared what she learned with the rest of the staff.
• The diversity team at Eleanor Rush Intermediate School is exploring diversifying the books in the school’s library.
• The equity team at New Albany Elementary School shared a lesson of acceptance for students, and they attended a number of outside training sessions that are focused on racial sensitivity, equitable instruction and culturally responsible practices surrounding culture and race.