Portrait of a Graduate is an essential step toward a community-driven and Board-approved ends policy for the EWSD. This process has been undertaken by the EWSD Board to collect community feedback about what we want for all students who are graduating from the EWSD.

While many people have provided feedback and input through a community-driven process, the representation called for by our Equity Policy has not been present to date. As such, the process has been put on hold to ensure the collection of specific voices in the process and increase student voice.

Below is the plan for implementing affinity spaces in Portrait of a Graduate Design. Affinity spaces are designed to bring people together with common experiences to provide a safe and supportive space for dialogue and feedback centered on that specific experience.

• Black, Brown, and Indigenous Perspectives: December 21, 5-6:30 p.m. -  This affinity space is being created to ensure the inclusion of BIPOC perspectives in our Portrait of a Graduate work. This group will be facilitated by Tabitha Moore. Tabitha will support the group in gathering feedback in the context of the Portrait of a Graduate competency identification to integrate into final decision-making. This session will be hybrid; both in-person and call-in options will be available. Please register here to find out the in-person location or to receive call-in information.  

• Financial Hardship Perspectives: January 4, 4:30-6 p.m. - This affinity space is being created to gather the perspectives of individuals in our schools and community who are impacted or have been impacted by financial hardship and/or homelessness and housing instability. The facilitator will be Katie Ballard.  Katie will support the group in considering this particular voice related to the Portrait of a Graduate for the EWSD. This session will be a hybrid session; both in-person (Essex High School) and online/call-in will be available. Please register here for the Zoom link and/or call-in number and location.

• Disability Perspectives: January 4, 6-7:30 p.m. - This affinity space is being created to ensure the inclusion of the perspectives of parents of students with disabilities as well as students and community members with disabilities. The facilitator will be Katie Ballard. Katie will support the group in gathering feedback in the context of the Portrait of a Graduate competency identification to integrate into final decision-making. This session will be a hybrid session; both in-person (Essex High School) and online/call-in will be available. Please register here to participate. The members of the Special Education Advisory Committee will be present and participate in this discussion as well.

• Multilingual Perspectives: January 5, 5-7 p.m. - This affinity space is being created to include the perspectives of multilingual students, families, and community members in the Portrait of a Graduate process. This group will be facilitated by Tamara Eklof-Parks and multilingual liaisons. Tamara will support the group in gathering feedback in the context of the Portrait of a Graduate competency identification to integrate into final decision-making. This session will be a hybrid session; both in-person (Essex High School) and online/call-in will be available. Please register here to participate.

• LGBTQIA+ Perspectives: January 6, 5-6 p.m. - This affinity space is being created to ensure the inclusion of the perspectives of LGBTQIA+ students and community members. This group will be facilitated by Amber Leventry. Amber will support the group in gathering feedback in the context of the Portrait of a Graduate competency identification to integrate into final decision-making. This session will be online or call-in by phone. Please register here to participate.