San Francisco Day School, one of the finest K–8 independent schools in the country, seeks a Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) to begin July 1, 2022.

The Position

The Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at San Francisco Day School is a member of the administrative team and reports directly to the Head of School. The successful candidate will help to purposefully build an environment that promotes deep respect for cultural difference, honors multiple perspectives, supports equity, and encourages all constituents to appreciate and grow in their understanding of themselves and others. Working closely with faculty, the Director of DEI will provide strategic leadership for the school’s commitment to advancing a diverse and inclusive community.

Relationships are the cornerstone of the SF Day community. The new Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is tasked with building upon these relationships and leading the school in manifesting its values in daily life at SF Day and beyond its school walls. These connections and commitments are realized through the school’s mission:

At SF Day, we ignite curiosity. We cultivate a diverse, nurturing community that encourages learners to expand their perspectives and become their true selves. Students develop as compassionate, creative problem-solvers, prepared to thrive in an ever-changing world.

Strategic Priorities

The Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion will provide the strategic leadership that further develops the school’s vision, systems, and accompanying programs to ensure it celebrates the uniqueness of the community, enhances continued growth in equity, and fosters an inclusive community where everyone feels a sense of belonging.

The strategic priorities for the Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion include the following:

• Ensure that activities, communications, and programs reflect the school’s mission as a diverse, inclusive, and equitable community

• Work with Head of School and division heads to strengthen the vision for incorporating multicultural education into the curriculum; evaluate, advise, and support the development of an inclusive and multicultural curriculum across the divisions; make recommendations to grade levels and departments

• Collaborate and actively participate in faculty and staff recruitment and retention

• Serve as a resource for faculty to enhance an excellent multicultural curriculum, through a Universal Design for Learning and DEI lens, that demonstrates learner variability as a strength and builds collaborative teams of professionals to support all students in and out of the classroom

• Collaborate with diversity practitioners at independent, public, charter, and parochial schools as well as multicultural resource organizations to develop and strengthen networks and partnerships; this includes serving as the lead for The Pact, a mentor/mentee relationship with SoC in independent high schools

Qualifications and requirements

The Director will model empathy, integrity, and responsibility in their interactions with members of the community as a visible leader, collaborator, and mentor. The individual in this position will also provide positive and consistent leadership to support the adherence to community values. The Director will be able to communicate effectively as a speaker, writer, and listener, and engage in thoughtful dialogue in difficult moments. Finally, the Director will lead with good humor, poise, and a positive spirit.

In addition to the qualities and skills noted above, the ideal candidate will possess and have demonstrated the following competencies:

• Strong relationship-building skills and emotional intelligence

• Ability to lead and facilitate courageous conversations, welcoming diverse perspectives and thoughts

• Systems-thinker with the ability to gather relevant data and establish accountability to inform institutional goals and priorities

• Visionary and creative problem-solver with the leadership agility to question status-quo, collaborate interdepartmentally, set pace of change, and galvanize support and buy-in

Essential Functions

The essential functions for the Director of DEI include the following:

• Build, strengthen and sustain human relationships with a diverse network of constituencies that raise cultural competency, give voice and agency, and build systems of accountability and measurement

• Act as a liaison to and engage with the various diversity and inclusion-related groups in the school; support multicultural students, families, faculty, and staff through programs, events, and affinity groups; and respond to diversity and equity-related issues amongst the student body as they arise

• Promote a community where social-emotional learning, co-education/gender diversity, and neurodivergent learning connects students and guides their ability to problem-solve and work together

• Attend grade-level meetings to discuss classroom culture and themes around diversity and inclusion

• Plan, develop, and market diversity and inclusion-focused education, programs, and events for faculty/staff, students, and families

• Develop and coordinate ongoing faculty and staff training, in-service days, programming, and professional development in partnership with the Head of School and division heads

• Support the Office of Admission with outreach, recruitment, and retention of students and families from diverse backgrounds

• Collaborate with the Director of Communication with the goal of providing multicultural resources as an avenue for dialogue and collaborating to publicize diversity-related events, educational opportunities, workshops, etc. for students, faculty/staff, families, and the local community

• Guide and support the Parent/Guardian DEI group (IDEA) and student affinity groups

• Report to the Board Committee on Diversity regarding school initiatives and professional development opportunities

• Lead the school’s participation in the annual People of Color Conference and White Privilege Conference

• Pursue professional development opportunities; attend conferences and workshops; represent the school at local, regional, and national multicultural events; research, identify, and implement research-based best practices around diversity and inclusion

• Ensure that the school remains focused on its mission while developing and implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives

The School

Student Life

San Francisco Day School is a wonderful place for students to spend their childhood. The children, families, teachers, and staff that make up this community are united in support of students’ learning and personal growth.

While SF Day’s academic program equips students with the foundational skills necessary to pursue a lifetime of learning, it is the strength of the community and its values that bind them together and enable students to thrive.

Students learn the value and interdependence of community members at SF Day. Through opportunities for leadership, mentorship, collaboration, and sportsmanship, students fully embrace an SF Day experience.

Learning at SF Day

Intertwining intellect and imagination comes naturally to teachers at San Francisco Day School. The school’s educational program is born of the belief that education works best when students’ hearts and minds are invested in their learning. It values a “best practices” approach to education that employs a creative curriculum to draw students in and spark their interest and curiosity. At SF Day, they believe that academic and creative achievement go hand-in-hand.

Under the leadership of division heads, Dr. Kaili Hwang and Dr. Ruth Bissell, SF Day has created an educational environment that values not just mastery, but pride in risk-taking, collaboration, and learning from mistakes.

Co-Education at SF Day

San Francisco Day School was founded on the belief that students are best prepared to learn in an environment that embraces diversity. In 1981, visionary founders created a school with a robust educational program where all children could learn and thrive together. As a result, SF Day became the first K–8 co-educational independent school in San Francisco. Nearly four decades later, the school continues to champion gender inclusivity and the benefits of a co-educational program.

Every day, it provides a highly intentional, inclusive, mixed-gender educational program that thoughtfully serves all learners. The school does not group nor label children according to gender stereotypes;

Instead, it recognizes students as individual learners who each have unique personalities, dispositions, interests, and orientations. SF Day faculty, staff, and administrators work together to:

• Promote and practice the school’s values of diversity, equity, and inclusion

• Guide all students to practice leadership roles in a variety of settings

• Teach students to notice, examine, and disrupt gender-stereotyping of all kinds, including fixed gender roles

• Model positive and productive relationships across genders

• Advance their own learning by pursuing professional development pertaining to identity, gender diversity, and how all children learn best

• To learn more about co-education at SF Day, click here.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at SF Day

Inclusive Community

How do we honor diversity? By constantly evolving.

At SF Day, they recognize that there is no true “finish line” when it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion. However, an unwavering commitment to diversity has always been a founding value of the school. As such, they sought to codify their commitment with a formal Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statement.

With the leadership of their DEI co-directors, Betsy Brody and Loren Moyé, all members of the SF Day community — administration, faculty, staff, parents/guardians, students, alumni, and trustees — collaborated on this statement, helping to shape and articulate this expression of their vision, purpose, approach, and commitment to DEI at SF Day. The school is incredibly grateful to their community for its active engagement and drive to pursue diversity, equity, and inclusion, both within and beyond the walls of San Francisco Day School.

Campus/Geography

San Francisco Day School is located in the heart of the city across the street from the University of San Francisco. The urban campus includes 65,000 square feet of indoor space, including a recently completed 15,000 square foot building that will support expanded programs in visual and performing arts, environmental sustainability, and innovation and design. The campus provides spacious classrooms, art and music studios, science and math laboratories, a 21,000 volume library and media center, a state-of-the-art theater, a rooftop garden, a gymnasium, a cafeteria and activities room, an after-school program center, and several outdoor play areas.

As a city school, SF Day takes every opportunity to connect students with the resources of San Francisco as well as the outdoors. The city provides a rich learning laboratory with diverse cultural resources that support and enhance the curriculum. Service learning plays a key role, with upper school focusing on city programs such as the San Francisco Marin Food Bank, The Tenderloin Community Center, and Glide Memorial Church to learn from and give back to the community. The campus also hosts Breakthrough San Francisco, which provides academic enrichment and support for students with limited educational opportunities in grades 5–12.

SEARCH CALENDAR*

Applications Due
March 21, 2022

Semifinalist Interviews
Early to Mid-March, 2022

Finalist Interviews
Mid-March, 2022

Announcement
Late March, 2022

*Approximate dates subject to change