Why EMKS
Holding a belief that all students can become college graduates that lead, empower and mobilize change, the Kauffman School staff challenges students daily to meet ambitious academic and life goals. The schools serve a student population of which 87% qualify for free and reduced-price lunch and 90% identify as person of color.
Our students’ results demonstrate their incredible brilliance, passion, creativity, and work ethic. Kauffman School students are empowered by their identities and place in the community and develop a critical consciousness of the world around them. Kauffman School staff actively partner with families to be a school of the community, not just in the community.
As an organization, we believe in living out our commitment to be culturally-responsive educators through actions big and small including, but not limited to:
- Evaluating curriculum decisions to make sure we are promoting texts featuring non-white authors and non-white main characters, thus setting up students to analyze literature feature more varied racial, socio-economic experiences
- Hosting events for students, staff and families that celebrate culture and heritage
- Engaging in professional development that pushes staff to more deeply understand race, privilege and intersectionality of identity
- Deepening awareness of culturally-responsive practices through readings, discussions, and case studies
- Creating spaces for conversations about identity with our students during community meetings
Above all, we believe in continually evaluating intent and impact so that all of our actions are executed with the purpose and intent to empower every student to reach their full potential. We also believe that as educators, we are called to assess the impact of our actions and adjust course if they are not meeting the intent. Positive intent cannot mean we ignore the impact of actions and we believe continually assessing and reassessing practices to ensure they are effective is a critical reflection process to ensure we are being culturally responsive. As an organization, we are committed to being humble and assessing our practices regularly to ensure we are achieving the impact we want for our community and our students
