Common Ground, a strategic initiative of Gordon School, is a voluntary program that facilitates positive racial identity exploration, self-awareness, and connection for students whose racial group is under-represented in the school.
Common Ground facilitates growth and development through structured, developmentally appropriate activities, projects, and dialogue that provide affirmation, support, and advocacy for students, while fostering critical thinking and building a sense of respect for themselves and others.
The Lower School program started in 2006, and the Middle School program started in 2007.
In Lower School
Lower School Common Ground takes place after school on Tuesdays from 3:30 to 4:30 pm. There are three eight-week sessions, including a fall, winter, and spring session. Parents of students of color choose to enroll their children in one, two, or three sessions, or none at all.
The Lower School program is play-based, and students are eligible to join starting in first grade. Three Lower School faculty members facilitate the program. Students are sometimes in mixed-age groups, and other times in grade level groups.
In Middle School
The Middle School program meets monthly, throughout the school year, during the Friday morning one-hour long advisory period.
Middle School students of color can choose to participate in the Common Ground Affinity Group. The curriculum builds on the Lower School program, focusing on more dialogue, projects, and experiential learning activities.
While students of color are meeting in this affinity group, white students, and students of color who choose not to attend the affinity group, participate in Common Ground Advisory. This program’s curriculum complements that of the affinity group, with experiential activities that help students develop accurate information about others, strengthen their individual identites, interrupt biased behaviors and make meaningful connections with others.