Equity Statement

Commitment to Equity and Inclusion

Hutch Kids is committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture for children, families, and staff. Our commitment goes beyond a philosophical vision, and is actionable in the following ways in our organization:

For Children and In Our Classrooms
1. Children are seen and respected in the context of their family and of their culture. Children’s individual identities and cultural differences are acknowledged, represented and shared within their classroom communities.
2. The curriculum encompasses anti-bias and anti-racist themes which address topics of justice, action, and learning about racism in age and developmentally appropriate ways.
For Families
1. Parents and guardians are invited to share their cultures, beliefs and experiences as related both to their family culture as well as their needs from this early learning organization.
2. Parents and guardians deserve transparency and accountability from their child’s teachers on the learning goals as related to equity and inclusion, and how those learning goals are aligned with our play-based, research and relationship based philosophy. Teachers will share curriculum and collaborate with families to define children’s individual learning goals. Please note: The staff will be collaboratively developing this curriculum over the course of the school year.
3. Opportunities are presented and supported for families wishing to meet as an entire community or in affinity groups for parent support and educational opportunities.
For Staff
1. All teachers should understand that they will be expected to reflect on how their personal beliefs, values, cultures, identities, experiences of school, etc. influence the way they interact with children and organize the classroom environment, and commit to ongoing learning.
2. Teachers will honor the cultural wealth and expertise of families by getting to know each family, recognizing that all families have unique strengths, and welcoming families’ contributions.
3. Hutch Kids Administration and Leadership Team will support and collaborate with the staff-led Equity and Inclusion group to provide space for BIPOC staff to support one another, as well as create space for and support other marginalized groups, and to contribute to HK’s continued institutional growth.
4. HK will continue to provide meaningful professional development opportunities that encourage staff to reflect and deepen their knowledge of anti-bias and anti-racist ECE, and to draw connections between anti-bias/anti-racist values and teaching practices

Our focus on equity and inclusion and anti-bias and anti-racist curriculum practices has been a central part of our professional development for the last few years. Our commitment to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture for children, families, and staff is a defining tenet of our organization’s strategic plan. We recognize that this work is dynamic and on-going and we as individuals and as an organization do not have all of the answers.

Hutch Kids is ﬁrmly committed to our goal of becoming an anti-racist organization and building a culturally responsive, inclusive community. The Racial Discrimination and Grievance Policy is intended to proactively address any race-based violation of rights inﬂicted upon our BIPOC community members. This includes: microaggressions, discrimination, harassment, and any other form of racial misconduct.

As part of our commitment to equity, Hutch Kids stands by our Land Acknowledgement and Labor Acknowledgement.

Meet our Equity and inclusion Specialist