Equity and Excellence

“Educational equity is the educational policies, practices, and programs necessary to eliminate educational barriers based on gender, race/ethnicity, national origin, color, disability, age, or other protected group status; and provide equal educational opportunities and ensure that historically underserved or underrepresented populations meet the same rigorous standards for academic performance expected of all children and youth.”

NPS is committed to equity and therefore values curriculum and instructional practices that:

• Are academically rigorous
• Promote critical thinking and analysis
• Are culturally responsive and anti-racist
• Are participatory and experiential
• Are hopeful, joyful and kind
• Promote social justice

Because NPS believes in equity, we value a growth mindset and aspire to:

• develop and support a staff who believe that all students can learn
• promote positive expectancy “You can do it, I won’t give up on you”
• define our success through the growth of all students and especially those who struggle
• develop system wide practices that value progress and demonstrate growth
• support teachers in continually growing and reflecting on their practice
• create a safe environment that encourages risk taking for students and adults
• articulate well defined learning outcomes in each discipline
• develop and support a staff who can overcome biases that impede teaching and learning.

We value educating the whole student and aspire to:

• provide a robust curriculum of social emotional learning
• build trusting relationships among adults and children in schools
• provide a safe learning environment regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation/identity, learning style… for each and every students and staff member
• provide highly engaging curricula and learning experiences
• support our staff in learning about each child’s culture and language
• provide diverse curricula that speak to a wide variety of interests and needs