The LBJ ECHS Vertical Team recognizes that our community is hurting from the recent deaths of George Floyd, Mike Ramos, and many other loved ones that have lost their lives due to the systemic racism that permeates the institutions that sustain our nation. While our community as a whole was already in crisis dealing with the effects of the current COVID-19 pandemic, we have now been greatly impacted by the most recent events across our city, state, and nation.
We have always stood together and supported one another; that solidarity is very much needed right now! As we remain very sensitive to the current reality that our students are having to deal with, the LBJ ECHS Vertical Team is partnering with the Austin Justice Coalition, Life-A-New, and other organizations to host a Town Hall meeting for the LBJ ECHS Community. We will unify in addressing the social justice issues & continuously educate our students, staff, and families! The details for the meeting will be shared soon as we finalize the plans early next week.
We hold our students, our school family, and our larger community in our hearts. As a vertical team, from PK-3 through Twelfth Grade, we pledge to continue our work in educating our students & staff on addressing social justice, and continue to grow our own cultural proficiencies on the various campuses. As a vertical team, we collaborated together to identify action steps for our campuses that move this work, and will include detailed goals and progress measures in our Campus Improvement Plans.
As a vertical team, our action steps are the following:
• We are committed to vertically aligning our professional learning on equity, cultural proficiency, and inclusiveness for staff in every LBJ ECHS High Vertical Team Campus.
• We are committed to having courageous conversations with our school community.
• We are committed to have on-going dialogue with all students about race & diversity.
• We are committed to providing instructional materials that represent diverse perspectives, cultures, and histories in all content areas throughout the entire school year.
As much as we, the adults, sometimes struggle to make sense of what is happening, we know our students may not understand their world right now and we wanted to provide you with some resources you can use to talk with your child about the current news we’ve seen:
• How to talk to kids about racism, racial violence and police brutality
• How to talk to kids about racism, protest and injustice
Additionally, UT is holding a free six-week online class on how to talk about race. The course description states, “This course is offered to families and educators to raise awareness about race, racism, representation, and resistance. In this course, we reflect on how we learned about race and racism as children and consider how this plays a role in how we talk about race with our youth.” Space is limited and you can register here:
• UT Zoom Class - How to Talk About Race
If you would like to support local organizations working against racism and supporting the Black Lives Matter community, you can learn about five in Austin here:
• Donate to these Five Austin Organizations Promoting Racial Equity
The LBJ ECHS Vertical Team is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion. We believe equity is accomplished when access is based on need, and every student is provided with what they individually require to learn and succeed academically and socially emotionally. We stand firm on ensuring equitable and inclusive practices continue every day. We are committed to holding each other responsible for nurturing the school environments that welcome multiple perspectives. We know this is ongoing work and over the summer each campus principal will work with their staff and student leaders to develop action plans for full implementation of each action step for each campus.
We will be an even stronger community by working together, with purpose, empathy, and respect united in our vision for our students. LBJ ECHS Unity- “It Takes a Village”
***LBJ ECHS Vertical Team Principals & Campuses-We Stand TOGETHER!!!!
• LBJ ECHS- Jon Bailey
• Gus Garcia YMLA- Jose Mejia
• Bertha Sadler Means YWLA- Christina Almarez
• Andrews Elementary - Diana Vallejo
• Blanton Elementary - Dora Molina
• Overton Elementary - Courtney Colvin
• Norman/Sims Elementary - Wendy Mills
• Jordan Elementary - Adrienne Williams
• Harris Elementary - Ana Dwiggins
• Pecan Springs Elementary - Andrea Williams