Equity, Inclusion, & Cultural Responsiveness

The Mequon-Thiensville School District, the Board of Education, school administrators, faculty, support staff, contracted service providers, and volunteers are committed to holding one another accountable for ensuring an intentional districtwide culture of equity.

Together:

• We denounce racism.
• We promote inclusion.
• We cultivate diversity.
• We foster a culture of belonging.

In fostering a culture of belonging, we commit to building meaningful relationships with others by asking questions, listening to understand, and responding with empathy. In fact, equity, inclusion, and cultural responsiveness are key components of our organization’s strategy.

Our Mission
Together, we ignite each student’s passion for learning, preparing for a life of infinite possibilities.

Our Vision
Each student, every time, empowered to succeed.

The District’s commitment to success for each student is rooted in the ideals of equity, opportunity, and excellence for all. At the foundation to the systems, structures, instruction, and programming utilized to support improved student outcomes are the organization’s equity non-negotiables. These expectations define the efforts to support and grow equity and social justice in the District; they are not open to interpretation or modification.

We commit to:

• Eliminating inequities.
• Preventing student failure and supporting students’ social-emotional growth.
• Achieving equitable representation of students in all organizational programming.
• Intentionally designing educational teams to increase and transform one another’s instructional capacity.
• Collaborating to analyze data, design proactive instruction, and select strategies for all learners in our charge.
• Providing instruction and curriculum that are culturally relevant and rigorous for all learners.
• Proactively developing and revising curriculum and programming to improve overall student achievement, accommodate individual learning differences, and be deliverable in flexible learning environments.
• Regularly updating and maintaining student performance profiles to assist educational teams in documenting progress and goals, and determining methods to engage all students in learning.
• Serving each student, regardless of home situation, ability or circumstance.
• Aligning all District policies, procedures, and funding with the District’s Equity Non-Negotiables to eliminate inequities.

Key to the school district’s work to improve and grow is our strategic plan and our efforts to ensure equity, inclusion, and cultural responsiveness are well represented in our use of the plan to unify efforts across our organization. The information below summarizes our ongoing efforts to cultivate a culture of equity and inclusion, and actively work to serve each student according to his or her needs in correlation with the strategic plan goals.

The MTSD Board of Education recognizes that as a public school system the district has responsibility for the future success of each student, regardless of background, home situation, or family resources. The district must embrace a culture of equity and inclusion, and actively work to serve each student according to his or her needs. Read Board Policy 2018: Equity in Education.