Commitment to Equity and Anti-Racism

Veritas Prep is an anti-racist organization, committed to fostering an environment of diversity, equity, and inclusion across our campuses. Our work is guided by our Equity Statement (see below) and our Anti-Racism Principles and Standards.

In addition, Veritas Prep provides robust anti-racism and equity training and professional development that:

• Explores culturally responsive teaching and student support
• Helps us examine our own biases and how they can impact our practice and our students
• Explores the history of racism in the educational system and in our country
• Understands how those systems have and still do marginalize students of color
• Provides teachers with the tools to support our LGBTQ+ students

This commitment to equity and anti-racism is central to Veritas’s mission of preparing students to compete, achieve, and succeed in college and beyond; to recruiting and retaining a diverse staff of educators who look like and share experiences with our students; and to ensuring that that all teachers understand the impact of racism and their own biases when supporting and educating our scholars. Research shows that racially and ethnically diverse teachers produce a myriad of positive outcomes for all children, especially the most historically marginalized, with positive impacts on everything ranging from college enrollment to identification and support of gifted students, and student feelings of belonging.

Veritas Prep Equity Statement

Every child deserves a high quality education that prepares them to achieve the life they want. Education in the United States has long been a system that centers whiteness. Racial inequities have long been entrenched through educational practices, narratives, and cultures. America has withheld education from enslaved peoples, forced assimilation education in boarding schools on indigenous peoples, and segregated public education in ways that disadvantage families of color. Because of these historical designs, policies, and practices, educational inequities are woven into the fiber of today’s education.

The percentage of Springfield residents that have college degrees is less than half of the state rate.  The median family income in Springfield is less than half of the state median family income, and poverty rates in Springfield are double the rate in Massachusetts. Within the City of Springfield, racial disparities in education and income remain at the forefront of life in Springfield.

We are dedicated to the pursuit of equity through a more just education within our own walls. Early college for all ensures access to higher education and career development that leads to positive life outcomes. Veritas Prep Charter School is committed to deepening our work as an anti-racist organization by identifying and dismantling systemic racism and historical inequities within our own schools. We will do this through continued learning, self-assessment, and strategic reform and redesign of key systems and practices that have historically made K-12 and post-secondary education inequitable. We commit to continued and sustained collaboration between staff, students, families, and the greater Springfield community.