LANSDALE- The CARE (conversation around race and ethnicity) symposium was held on November 29th to bring up a community discussion about race and ethnicity within the North Penn community. Parents and staff alike gathered in the Penndale auditorium to be able to give suggestions and ask questions about North Penn’s plan to address cultural and racial equity throughout the school district.

The CARE symposium discussed the main 4 goals that North Penn has in their plan. The first goal is to address the student achievement gap and try to get ethnically different students’ performance on a similar level. The second goal is to get a more diverse representation within higher performance classes and reduce the amount of minority students who are disproportionately suspended and represented in special education. The third goal is to promote a more diverse set of staff throughout the district to reflect the diverse student body. The last goal was to incorporate more student, staff, and parent engagement in promoting cultural proficiency.

“After tonight we’re gonna sit down and see if there’s anything that we need to tweak or revamp based on the feedback we get,” said  Dr. Jenna Rufo, one of the administrators responsible for the CARE symposium.

After the symposium, North Penn will use the feedback and utilize it in improving upon the current plan to achieve their current goals. While the process is long and arduous, the result of more students feeling at home within North Penn and everyone performing at similar levels will certainly make North Penn a more diverse community.   

Link to North Penn’s cultural proficiency plan: http://www.npenn.org/Page/25218