Contents
The New Voices Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Team aims to create a school culture that promotes an inclusive, diverse, and equitable learning environment where all students feel that they belong and that their experiences and perspectives matter.
We aim to cultivate and integrate our students’ diverse identities into every area of our school culture, providing them with opportunity for creative expression and student voice.
“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.”
Coretta Scott King (1927-2006)
Celebrating Our School Community
January 2025
In celebration of our diverse school community, this month we celebrate School Spirit. As we enter the new year, it’s an opportunity to strengthen our sense of community, connect with one another, and show pride in the unique backgrounds and perspectives that make our school vibrant.
Celebrating School Spirit
School Spirit Week is the last week of January.
| Monday, January 27th | Pajama Day |
| Tuesday, January 28th | Crazy Hat Day |
| Thursday, January 30th | Sports Jersey Day |
| Friday, January 31st | New Voices Day (Wear your NV t-shirts and sweatshirts!) |
Important Dates:
| Jan 8th-15th, 2025 | Fundraiser T-shirts distributed |
| Jan 14, 2025 | New Voices DEI Meeting |
| Jan 16, 2025 | D15 City Harvest Event |
| Jan 17, 2025 | Coat Drive ends |
| Jan 22, 2025 | D15 Student Equity Congress |
| Jan 27-31, 2025 | School Spirit Week |
| Jan 30th, 2025 | D15 Adult Equity Congress |
Student Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Team
Students have the opportunity to participate in furthering the equity work being done at our school and within District 15 by participating in conversations about current events related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, leadership opportunities, as well as help plan community-wide diversity events.
Mr. Pang, an 8th grade math teacher, is the group advisor.
Our Student Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team for the 2024-2025 meets twice per month to plan school-wide activities. One of their current initiatives is a winter coat drive to support families in need. There is a drop off in the lobby of the school building where new and gently used coats can be donated. These coats will be delivered to the 72nd Precinct collection. The coat drive will be running through January 17th.
The team also works in tandem with the District 15 Youth Equity Congress as well as the New Voices adult equity team to celebrate diverse holidays and cultural events, build community, and provide an opportunity for student leadership to elevate the voice of all our students. Our student team is working on creating poems and using Adobe express to create presentations of their work as part of the District 15 youth equity congress. Additionally they have a trip planned for service learning at City Harvest on January 16th.
In addition, the team is working on an Activist of the Month to be featured on the bulletin board on the 3rd floor throughout the year.
For more information on how your child can join the student diversity, equity, and Inclusion team, speak to Mr Pang in room 311.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Team Updates
The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Team is a collaboration between parents, teachers and administrators. We meet monthly to discuss, identify and implement change within our school community as it relates to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
If you are interested in joining the New Voices DEI team, please email:
lkraus2@schools.nyc.gov or dpignataro@schools.nyc.gov
As mentioned last month, the New Voices DEI team is deepening our work through our humanities curriculum. We will be working with the humanities department to find opportunities for seamless incorporation into existing units of study.
In addition, our focus with the District Equity Congress is Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education, and we are sure this work will enhance the CRSE work we are doing in the building, helping us to refine our curriculum to include diverse backgrounds and topics.
Community Building
Bringing together Alumni, Current Students, Family and Staff
Student Designed T-Shirts
We are excited to share the results of our Student Designed T-shirt fundraiser! Thanks to your support, we raised almost $1500 to help fund our Diversity Equity & Inclusion initiatives. Your participation not only helped spread school spirit but also made a real difference in contributing to our community building events. We appreciate everyone who contributed, and we look forward to seeing everyone spreading school spirit by wearing their New Voices Attire!
Keep your eye out for more community building events this spring!
GSA News
The New Voices Gender and Sexuality Alliance has members across all three grades! GSA is a safe space for students to meet, support each other, and talk about school, life, and current events as well as participate in service-learning projects.
This month, the GSA continued to plan out our Dungeons and Dragons bulletin board.
In addition, students have expressed interested in LGBTQ+ history and are planning research projects to teach each other, and the school community, about significant people and events in LGBTQ+ history.
The students have also been having discussions on current hot topics such as transgender students on sports teams.
The GSA continues to be an integral part of our community, allowing students to socialize across grades, make new friends, and discover new interests in a safe space for all students.