Curriculum and Programs

Affinity Groups

What are race-based affinity groups?

Students of color from pre-K through grade 8 meet regularly with other students and adults with whom they share experiences based on their racial identity and cultural background. Faculty and staff of color volunteer their time as facilitators.

How are students grouped for affinity groups?

In the Lower School, the three racial affinity groups we offer are the Black Kids Group, the Latino/a Kids Group, and the Asian Kids Group. Students belonging to these three groups usually meet in clusters based on grade levels.

In the Middle School, students of color meet as one large group called the Middle School Kids of Color group.

How often do affinity group meetings take place?

In both Lower and Middle Schools, affinity groups meet twice a month.

In addition, there are lunch meetings during the school year in which students of color gather in their own racial affinity group: All Black Kids Lunch, All Latino/a Kids Lunch, All Asian Kids Lunch.

Twice a year, all students of color gather as one large community of students of color (the All-Affinity Group Lunch). These larger group meetings are for both Lower and Middle School students of color.

What do the students do in these meetings?

Building and nurturing relationships are at the heart of these meetings. Lower School students have lunch together, engage in conversations, play games, draw, or have a shared reading time. Sometimes, facilitators take students to a nearby park to have lunch. Middle School students typically engage in conversations and activities that center on developmentally appropriate topics that they or the adult facilitators bring to the group.