Equity and Inclusion

From our founding, educating students from all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds has been part of Commonwealth’s mission. In and beyond the classroom, our students celebrate and critically explore the many facets of diversity—race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, religion, socioeconomic background, political opinion, nationality, and more—across the spectrum of human experience. We strive to ensure all of our students can avail themselves of every opportunity at Commonwealth and that the whole of our community (students, teachers, and families alike) feels fully enfranchised and empowered to speak up and be heard. This work, by its nature, must be ongoing, and we commit to sharing and building on the interconnected diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives below.

DEI Goals and Objectives at Commonwealth

Ensure every student, regardless of background, thrives while enrolled and graduates prepared to do work of distinction after Commonwealth and in the communities they go on to serve.
Teach, model, and encourage open and skillful discussion about questions of race, class, gender, and religion, in and outside class.
Ensure our curriculum not only exposes students to a wide array of cultures and voices but cultivates a desire to engage fully with the works of diverse people.
Make education and discussion across ethnic, religious, and social spectrums a part of the school routine and cultivate a culture that encourages all to participate meaningfully in the academic life of the school.
Empower students within the community to advocate for themselves and respond constructively to conflicts and challenges.

Ensure that financial assistance to families extends beyond meeting demonstrated need for tuition and fees to include resources, as needed, for standardized testing, tutoring, travel, summer experiences, and independent projects.
Develop outreach and communications programs that will raise Commonwealth’s profile in historically underrepresented communities.
Make every effort to find, attract, and retain faculty, staff, and board members from diverse socioeconomic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds, with one goal of the process bringing on individuals committed and eager to play a role in advancing DEI.
Actively work to make all families feel welcome and enfranchised, and provide orientation to help them understand the culture and expectations at Commonwealth.

School Programming

Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

The Commonwealth School Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion articulates the school's commitment to creating and maintaining a truly diverse, equitable, and inclusive school environment. This living document gives every member of the Commonwealth community—student, parent, alum, teacher, staff member, and trustee—a set of commitments they can refer to as we continue this work together.

Commonwealth School’s founder, Charles Merrill, Jr., dreamed of a diverse collective of inquisitive students learning how to become responsible, socially conscious adults. His vision gives special meaning to the school’s mission statement. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are essential to achieving the mission.

The lives of students, faculty, and staff are shaped by each individual’s life experiences that include but are not limited to race, religion, sexual orientation, age, ethnicity, family structure, nationality, gender identity, ability, and socioeconomic background.

Diversity of perspectives, beliefs, and experiences enhances intellectual discourse and the educational experience at Commonwealth. Diversity enables students to learn from one another and from faculty in rigorous and respectful debate and to develop empathy for those of differing views and experiences. It prepares them to thrive in the increasingly diverse society in which they live and will contribute to as adults.

For these reasons, achieving diversity will enable Commonwealth to better live up to its commitment to high academic standards. Commonwealth can and will be a welcoming home for curious and imaginative students irrespective of their backgrounds, interests, identities, or financial capacities.

Achieving and maintaining diversity requires a welcoming culture of inclusivity where individuals feel that they can be their true selves, that they are heard, that their differences are valued, and that they belong. Inclusiveness strengthens the school’s unique, proud, and spirited culture.

Being inclusive must be supported with equitable policies and procedures. A hallmark of the Commonwealth education is academic excellence, which must be accompanied by support mechanisms that address the entirety of the individual, their needs, and their differences. When the school fails to include and support all of its members, we must ask how we can do better.

Each of us must engage affirmatively with the work of equity and inclusion. It cannot be delegated to the Director of DEI or to the Head of School. They have institutional responsibilities regarding DEI that must be fulfilled, but real progress can only be achieved through the action of all: students, faculty, staff, alumni/ae, and the Board.

DEI Leadership

Curriculum

Our curriculum exposes students to a wide array of cultures and voices, and facilitates discussion across ethnic, religious, and social spectrums. Some curricular highlights:

U.S. history classes explore deeply the role of racial oppression and economic inequity in the unfolding narrative of the country’s history.
Spanish students explore questions of class and identity through the study of Latin American history and culture, as well as the portrayal of its people in literature and film.
English 11 focuses on Black voices in America and their explorations of race, featuring works by James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, Terrance Hayes, Langston Hughes, and Kiese Laymon.
Our ninth-grade seminar, with its City of Boston immersion, explores themes of inclusion/exclusion, class, privilege, gentrification, environmental racism, and the limits of the market in resolving issues of access and equality.

Student Life and Support

With our Student Life programming, we hope to celebrate our differences, provide space for dialogue, and amplify diverse voices so all students feel seen, heard, supported, and respected.

Mental Health and Wellness: Two staff members (our Dean of Students and School Counselor) provide ongoing support and outreach to all students.
Homework Project: We began the Homework Project more than a decade ago to provide a quiet, structured environment for students after school twice each week. Homework Project is subsidized for students with financial aid grants.
Training: We fund student, faculty, and staff participation in conferences and workshops, including the Student Diversity Leadership Conference.
Diversity Day: This annual event fosters faculty- and student-led discussions of DEI issues both timely and timeless. Recent topics have included the formation of identity and the “masks” we wear, confronting the rise in anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic, celebrating Jewish food traditions, and appreciating the beauty of Arab culture.
Assembly: A tradition dating back to our earliest days, our weekly assemblies introduce Commonwealth students to an array of speakers and performers from a variety of backgrounds. View a recent sampling here.

Family Engagement

Our Student Life team works to ensure all families feel welcome and enfranchised, helping them understand the culture and expectations at Commonwealth. New Parent Orientation, a “buddy system” matching new and returning families, and translations when needed create a foundation for collaboration and, ultimately, student success.

Our Advancement team also connects with every new family to better welcome them into the Commonwealth community, including introducing them to programming for parents and guardians.

Access and Affordability

Since our founding, we have been dedicated to increasing access and welcoming as many qualified students as possible, and we partner with families to meet the cost of a Commonwealth education.

Let's Make It Work

Affinity and Alliance Groups

Student-led affinity and alliance groups foster connection and camaraderie among and across our many varied identities.

Connect with Classmates

Dive In Commonwealth

Dive In Commonwealth is an academic enrichment program for historically underserved middle school students. It's exciting. It's rigorous. It's fun. And it's free.

Spend Your Summers with Us

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