About
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Belonging
Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) at Berkeley Hall is about removing learning, social, and emotional obstacles so students can thrive. Our DEIB program and initiatives support all areas of the school including wellness, admissions, community engagement, and teaching and learning. DEIB helps to prepare our students for their roles as future scholars, community members, citizens, and professionals.
We define DEIB as the following:
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Diversity: The practice of including people from a range of different lived experiences and perspectives
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Equity: The quality of being fair and impartial, providing access to needed resources and opportunities
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Inclusion: The action or state of including or being included within a group or structure
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Belonging: Individuals who feel like they belong and are cared for
Berkeley Hall is a diverse learning community. We see that fact as a distinctive strength—and as a starting point to do and learn more.
Our goal is to teach and learn in culturally responsive ways that are enriched by the variety of backgrounds and perspectives our students bring. It is to foster a community built upon relationships of awareness and trust.
For 113 years, our school has embraced the values of respect, responsibilities, honesty, and compassion. We know that living these ideals is a continual work in progress, and the process of striving toward creating a community where every member feels belonging and mattering is an ongoing journey. Every day, as we learn more, we do better.
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59% of Berkeley Hall families identify as BIPOC.
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We are a diverse community in many ways: ethnically, religiously, culturally, socioeconomically, perspective-wise, and even internationally (with about 5% of students non-U.S. citizens).
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We hold cultural celebrations spanning the year through our cultural assembly series — including Hispanic Heritage Month, Diwali, Lunar New Year, Black History Month, Nowruz, Armenian-American History & Heritage Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
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Through curriculum audits, we examine our curriculum through an equity lens to be sure to include content that represents global perspectives and integrates a diversity of cultures and backgrounds.
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Through community and climate surveys we actively collect data and feedback used to inform our strategic planning.
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Through a responsive classroom model, students work together to identify their strengths and articulate goals for their growth as fearless scholars and conscientious citizens. In so doing, they model and practice skills of inclusion and equity every day.
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Our faculty, staff, and board of trustees continue to develop DEIB confidence and competence through ongoing professional development. Sessions have included: Allyship training, affinity group facilitation training, DEIB workshops, building DEI confidence and competence through shared languages, elevating DEIB in lesson plans, and interrupting bias training.
Community Perspectives
Hear from community members (students, educators, and parents) what they value about the Berkeley Hall community:
Hear from community members (students, educators, and parents) what they value about the Berkeley Hall community:
“I cherish the diversity I see in my classes. So many of my students are bi- or tri-lingual. As a school, we look like Los Angeles.”
“Our diversity allows for rich classroom conversations about the world today. We have the kind of conversations adults should have more often.”
“Our diversity allows for rich classroom conversations about the world today. We have the kind of conversations adults should have more often.”
“Being with people of backgrounds very different from your own makes everyone’s eyes open a little wider.”
“Being in a diverse community right from the start shapes children’s expectations about the way the world should be.”
“We are making sure our school is part of the progress, not the problem.”
Located in Los Angeles, CA, Berkeley Hall School is a private, coeducational school for students in preschool through grade 8. Rigorous academics in a supportive atmosphere and grounded character development allow students to become fearless scholars and conscientious citizens - gain a love of learning, leadership with social responsibility, creativity with moral integrity, and self-esteem with compassion for others and the environment.