Goal 3: Community Membership

Action Step 1
Review the current enrollment plan and identify goals.

Strategies to Support Action Step 1

Strategy 1

Reviewed enrollment plan and developed strategies to increase representation of Black/AfricanAmerican, Latinx/Hispanic, and Native American/Indigenous students applying, enrolling, and re-enrolling at Catlin Gabel.

• Cultivate a culturally responsive enrollment management team by partnering with the Equity and Inclusion Department to strengthen staff and volunteer training, to help mitigate biases in the application review process, and to conduct an audit of application processes at the end of the 2022-23 admission cycle.
• Highlight non-dominant experiences in school communications, including The Caller, website, social, video, and newsletters, and accurately represent the school’s diverse community through images in marketing materials via an opt-in process.
• Conduct outreach to schools with significant populations of Black/AfricanAmerican, Latinx/Hispanic, and Native American/Indigenous students who are within ten miles of school and accessible by CG bus routes.
• Develop and promote diversity and inclusion events to prospective families to provide better information on how the school recognizes and supports different racial and cultural identities.
• Create a culture of ambassadorship so the wider community better understands the important role each individual has in promoting the benefits of the school to prospective families.
• Establish relationships with community organizations that support Black/AfricanAmerican, Latinx/Hispanic, and Native American/Indigenous populations. 
• Partner with divisions and Equity and Inclusion Department to increase retention of Black/African American, Latinx/Hispanic, and Native American/Indigenous students.

Strategy 2

Develop enrollment goals for Black/AfricanAmerican, Latinx/Hispanic, and Native American/Indigenous students:

• Aim for diversity in enrollment that is on par or greater than the Portland metro area and develop metrics to calculate percentages based on information from the 2020 Census Data.*
• Aim to enroll a minimum of two students who identify as Black/African American, Latinx/Hispanic, and Native American/Indigenous per grade to create affinity.

*An average of Multnomah, Clackamas, Washington counties 2020 Census Data resulted in metro areas statistics of: Caucasian - 70%; Asian - 9%; Black - 3%; Latinx - 13%; Multiracial - 5%; Native American - 1%. We acknowledge the Census is an imperfect benchmark. For details regarding how Census Data is gathered, please visit Census.gov.

Action Step 2

Research the experience of Employees of Color and other historically-marginalized groups.

Strategies to Support Action Step 2

Strategy 1

Admin. team members conducted exit interviews with employees leaving the school. Themes included: Limited opportunities for career advancement; need to improve support for different points of view, e.g. political and faith-based; added responsibility of supporting students with similar identities; requests for increased amount of ongoing feedback from/to managers; work/life balance. Information collected will inform recruitment and retention plans going forward.   

Strategy 2

Focus group and individual interviews that helped inform the Catlin Gabel Culture Assessment also provided space for conversation and data collection. Separate from Assessment development, these data have been analyzed and common themes have been shared. Top themes included: valuing multiple perspectives and voices; perceived strengths and deltas about institutional support; feelings of isolation; wishes for increased support regarding identity-based difficult conversations. 

Strategy 3

Related to research endeavors, the school created more institutional avenues for engaging with diverse voices in decision-making. The Board, Board Inclusion and Diversity Committee (BID), and Admin Team met with several Family Affinity Groups to hear their concerns and ideas. Family Affinity Group facilitators are meeting together and providing input to school leadership.  

Action Step 3
Re-affirm purpose and structures for Affinity Groups across constituents.

Strategies to Accomplish Action Step 3

Strategy 1

All divisions developed clear plans to rebuild or maintain Student Affinity Groups to create better alignment throughout the school. We continue to evaluate the structure and purpose of Affinity Groups with the eventual goal of involving all students in conversations about DEI.

Strategy 2

Family Affinity Groups actively engaged in partnering with the school, sharing ideas and recommendations with the Board of Trustees. These affinity groups will continue to be supported by the school and new Family Affinity Groups will be encouraged to form as needed. This partnership will be on-going, and these groups will continue to bring community members together.

Strategy 3

Employees are supported in coming together in Employee Affinity Groups. These groups arise as needed, and are determined by employees annually.

Action Step 1

Report on enrollment and recruiting plan progress from 2021-2022.

Enrollment Goals

Aim to enroll a minimum of two students who identify as Black/African American, Latinx/Hispanic, and Native American/Indigenous per grade to create affinity.  

• 86% of grades enroll at least two students with Black/African American identity*
• 93% of grades enroll at least two students with Latinx/Hispanic identity*
• 21% of grades enroll at least two students with Native American/Indigenous identity*

*These enrollment targets include multiracial students. 

Aim for diversity in enrollment that is on par or greater than the demographic representation in the Portland metro area and develop metrics to calculate percentages based on information from the 2020 Census Data. Compared to Portland Metro area demographics in Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington counties for 3-18 year olds:

• Black/African American student enrollment is a fraction under par. 
• Multiracial and Asian student enrollments are overrepresented.
• White, Latinx/Hispanic and Native American/Indigenous student enrollments are underrepresented. 

See graphs in PDF of report on pages 8-11 for specific data.

ACHIEVED GOALS INCLUDED 

• Redefined a role on the IT team to include .5 institutional research position. This role assists with equity and inclusion work, including enrollment, to help us better understand attrition data, patterns in the admission cycle of inquiry to enrollment, the impact of financial assistance, and analysis of applicant and current student and family survey data related to experiences and expectations. Findings so far include: a clear need to focus on retention of Black students, the financial assistance budget does not meet the demand of admissible Black, Latinx, and Native American applicants; and we need to increase satisfaction among our families before we can ask for ambassadorship.  
• Redefined a role on the enrollment team. This role supports current families from historically marginalized groups and works to form a stronger partnership between enrollment and equity and inclusion teams. The Assistant Director of Enrollment and Family Inclusion Coordinator is responsible for Family Affinity Groups, schoolwide Parent Faculty Association events, and assists with Beginning and Lower School enrollment.  
• Expanded events and outreach. New activities include a dedicated inclusion event within Open House to showcase our commitment and answer questions, deepened partnerships with schools with large populations of Black, Latinx, and Native American students via transparent discussions regarding the necessary services for their students, attendance at the Skanner’s annual MLK Breakfast, invitations to new families to spring events including the Juneteenth celebration.  
• Expanded storytelling capabilities. A new part-time videographer position helps create additional content. Marketing and Communications team members also meet regularly with divisional leadership, department heads, and the Equity and Inclusion Coordinator of Student Programs to be aware of upcoming events that showcase community events, which we can then highlight across platforms, and gain insights on employees and students who may be interested in sharing their knowledge and experiences through Q&A videos, interviews, and blogs. 

Action Step 2

Establish a baseline plan for recruiting and retaining employees of color.

A baseline plan for diversity-specific recruiting efforts was updated in 2023. A plan specific for employee retention is underway.

ACHIEVED GOALS INCLUDED

Outreach: Working from an existing recruitment plan, we continue to partner with diverse recruiting firms, job boards, professional organizations, and publications. Development of partnership with diverse associations and college career centers is planned. The number of job boards and recruiting agencies utilized has been increased. A list of job-specific sites has been developed. All positions are posted internally; most are posted externally. A new Applicant Tracking System (ATS) was implemented to direct job posting to the most productive job board and reports, including Indeed. The employment section of the school’s website was refreshed and now includes videos. The HR team attended three career fairs, two of which focused on diverse candidates, and the team plans to attend at least three job fairs in 2023-24.

Data: Systems have been established to track employee turnover data year-over-year, and reports have been developed to determine cost/benefit ratios of the most productive sites for candidates (note that most candidates decline to complete the voluntary self-identification form). We aim to develop an exit survey in addition to providing metrics to augment individual exit interviews in 2023-24.  

Retention: In addition to a 3-day new hire orientation centered on student-facing faculty and staff, all newly-hired employees are invited to periodic mixers and gatherings specifically for them. We plan to partner with a local university to offer two-year paid fellowships for BIPOC teachers entering the teaching field, enabling them to work alongside experienced faculty and instructional coaches to develop teaching skills and experience. We hope to train managers on how to have “stay interviews” to support professional development and goal setting for BIPOC employees.

See graph for specific employee data on PDF of report, page 13.

Action Step 3

Begin affinity group communication process to share themes and recommendations.

Catlin Gabel provides different types of support for student, family, and employee Affinity Groups. For student Affinity Groups, we take responsibility for structure, support, and programming. For family and employee Affinity Groups, we support logistics and build institutional-group partnerships and communication.  

Achieved Goals for Student Affinity Groups

• Student Affinity Groups met consistently in all three divisions and have been structured to meet developmental differences between Upper, Middle, and Lower School students.
  • Upper School Affinity Groups were largely student-led, with designated teachers ready to support.
  • Middle School Affinity Groups were primarily teacher-led, with the goal of creating space for students to spend time together and discuss topics of interest.
  • Lower School Affinity Groups (Grades 1-5) were led by teachers, with the goal of building community and teaching about inclusivity.

Next Steps for Improving Student Affinity Groups

• Ensuring that all students, of any identity, have groups or clubs they can choose to attend.
• Articulating specific and aligned goals for Affinity Groups, across divisions. 
• Supporting faculty to grow their skills in leading Affinity Group spaces. 
• Building student leadership skills, including facilitation, to create more possibilities for cross-divisional Affinity Group time. 

Achieved Goals for Family Affinity Groups

• Development of Family Inclusion Coordinator position. This position was created to have a formal structure for building stronger partnerships between Family Affinity Groups and Catlin Gabel and the Parent Faculty Association. (Position was filled in August 2023).

Achieved Goals for Employee Affinity Groups

• The Equity and Inclusion Department shared information regarding logistics and budget support available for Employee Affinity and Discussion Groups.
• One Employee Discussion Group met quarterly.
   

Action Step 4

The Board Governance Committee develops a more intentional plan for diverse trustee recruitment.

• The Board Governance Committee, which is responsible for the recruitment, nomination, and evaluation of trustees and the board, has prepared a diversity recruitment plan to reflect current practices and ensure future success. 
• In the last 5 years, the Board Governance Committee has included 40-45% of trustees identifying as nonwhite. Moving forward, the Head’s Office will track various demographic data, which will be reviewed annually by the governance committee and used to assess board diversity in key areas of identity (gender; race/ethnicity; divisional/alumni/past parent/grandparent affiliation; professional skills; and potential giving capacity). The Committee seeks to ensure that trustee membership is on par or greater than demographic representation in the Portland metro area and supports the strategic priorities of the school. 
• The Governance Committee sets recruitment priorities on an annual basis and invites names and suggestions from a variety of sources, including the Board of Trustees; Board Inclusion and Diversity Committee; PFA Executive Council; Parent Affinity Group Leaders; Alumni Council; and Portland community.
• The Board Inclusion and Diversity Committee tracks Inclusion and Recruiting Plan progress and identifies training and education to ensure all trustees understand the value and purpose of a diverse board. 
   

Action Step 1

Report action steps taken by school in response to affinity group feedback and perspectives.

Action Step 2

Report enrollment and recruiting plan progress from 2022-2023.