The Advent School has been committed to Diversity, Equity, and Belonging since its founding in 1961.
The Advent School Diversity Statement
The Advent School was founded in 1961 as an urban school whose community reflects the diversity of Boston. We continue to embody this mission through ongoing and intentional work to create a diverse, inclusive community and advocate for more equitable, anti-racist mindsets, actions, and outcomes.
In that vein, The Advent School commits to:
inspire our students, faculty, families, staff, and community to explore, appreciate, and embrace the multicultural world in which we live;
learn from each other and celebrate our differences by engaging in respectful, developmentally appropriate, and challenging conversations about our experiences and those of our neighbors;
develop our understanding of marginalized and oppressed groups and continue to learn about their histories, realities, and futures; and
foster an environment that prepares and empowers our students to be agents of change
Written by the Board of Trustees Diversity Committee
We define Social Justice as the active participation of all people in a society to equitably value and meet the needs of all individuals and communities.
Advent commits to inspiring its community to explore, appreciate, and embrace the multicultural world in which we live. The ongoing and necessary work toward this goal must be deeply democratic, recognizing social inequities and redistributing power.
Advent’s first head of school, Dr. Mona C. Hull, firmly believed that access to quality education and learning alongside peers from different backgrounds was the most beneficial way for children to learn. She believed that teaching children in an integrated school was the best way to fight back against racist beliefs and ensure that the next generation unlearned the prevailing racist frameworks of prior generations.
Hull left Advent in 1965, and Reverend Robert C. Day became the Head of School for thirty years. During Day’s tenure, the Boston Public Schools (BPS) were actively working to integrate neighborhood schools that had been de facto segregated due to the gerrymandering of districts. These efforts led to the bussing campaign of 1973-74, which created widespread tensions and violence across the city. At this time, The Advent School had already been a fully integrated school for 12 years. Bussing protests lasted through 1976 and resulted in many white families leaving the city. Despite white flight to the suburbs, The Advent School was committed to remaining in Boston.
In the years that followed, Advent remained committed to social justice. Nancy Harris Frohlich became Head of School upon Day’s retirement in 1995. Frohlich brought the Reggio Emilia approach, a teaching approach developed after World War II in direct response to Italy’s former fascist government, to Advent.
Since Nicole A. DuFauchard was appointed Head of School in 2013, The Advent School has strengthened its commitment to social justice by introducing the Social Justice Task Force, continued faculty and staff professional development, partnerships, faculty, staff, and student and adult Affinity Groups.