On Monday, Jan. 16, at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Breakfast hosted by iUrban Teen, VPS Superintendent Jeff Snell received the Compass Award in recognition of the district’s commitment to student equity and ensuring the success of each of our students.
In his remarks, he shared, “We have made progress, and we have so much work to do. Race, ethnicity, and poverty continue to be predictors of success in our school systems. We still have ugly examples of racism, prejudice, and hurt that contribute to our students not feeling welcomed and loved. Our district is committed to this work and we will continue to challenge ourselves to see our system through our students’ perspectives so that we can do better each day.”
The Compass Award celebrates and reflects the work the district is doing right now to ensure equity and inclusion within our programs and services. Equity is a cornerstone of our Write Our Story strategic planning process that is underway, and the goal of amplifying a diverse mix of student voices through the “Our Own Words” and “VPS Voices” projects.
VPS has centered equity goals, and with leadership from our board of directors, has adopted an equity lens tool and begun a strategic planning process that intentionally centers equity priority groups in our community. This process includes training and outreach to our community. We want to build and sustain a community where everyone feels welcome.
We are grateful to see the community recognizing and celebrating these efforts through this award. Most importantly, VPS aims to embody the teachings of Martin Luther King Jr. year-round as we work towards each child feeling love and belonging in our community.