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How can we create a more just and equitable school where everyone feels a sense of belonging? In the 2022-23 school year, UTS entered the next phase of our work towards a school culture of greater inclusion. For the first time, the drive for equity is embedded into senior leadership with Dr. Kimberley Tavares as the new Coordinating Vice Principal, Anti-racism, Equity, Inclusion, Access and Innovation Programs. Equity is evolving from a strategic initiative into a mindset interwoven into all that we do as a school. Our goal: creating a true sense of belonging for everyone.
"What I really like and respect about UTS is that there is a fundamental commitment to the work," says Kim. "We may have learning to do, we may have understanding and common language to build, but we firmly believe that this work is core to the school, with a deep-rooted commitment to the learning, to understanding and towards building a culture of inclusion."
The work succeeds because of leadership, says Kim, and UTS Principal Rosemary Evans is making it possible.
“Our work in anti-racism, equity, diversity and inclusion is so critical for the school,” says Rosemary. “It is easy to have stereotypical thoughts, and we are trying to constantly challenge them and think through the ramifications for everyone in our community, and how we can make all students feel included and welcome, giving access to all the opportunities equitably for every student at our school.”
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Dr. Kimberley Tavares leads a professional development workshop for UTS staff on creating inclusive spaces, on November 2.
The commitment is becoming tangible. UTS departments and student organizations are now setting equity goals, with Kim’s guidance, and creating implementation plans, including accountability measures, to drive progress.
Looking around the school, signs of change are on the walls, and in the halls. 'You Belong Here' posters, as part of an internal equity campaign launched by Kim, display the message that: "No matter your race, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or any of the other ways that make you who you are, you belong here. You have the right to be at school free of discrimination, harassment or exclusion. If you are not feeling safe, please speak with a trusted adult." Two digital display boards are also entirely devoted to equity messaging. “For me, the posters provide a sort of mental reassurance, that equity is being taken seriously and work is being done,” says S5 (Grade 11) Akshita, who serves on the executive of the UTS student group Advancing Equity for Asians and the Day of Pink Committee.
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'We Stand Up Together' intervention and reporting guidelines about how to handle incidents of discrimination and harassment hang in classrooms and offices, and students have received training about how to respond with the five Ds: direct by intervening, distract from the situation to de-escalate, delegate by seeking another person to intervene, document what happened and delay by checking in afterwards with the individual affected, rather than on the spot.
Kim made efforts to meet every student in the school, visiting English classes to ensure that every student learned about and understood these guidelines. They reflect work she completed over the summer (she officially joined UTS at the beginning of July) to streamline and strengthen policies related to equity and inclusion, removing repetition and redundancies and linking them together.
"Policies are your anchor in equity," she says. "When there is pushback, misunderstandings or denial, you can anchor back into the policy as your backbone."
Also over the summer, the school transitioned equity from a strategic initiative to a mindset, interwoven into all that we do as a school. Kim is quick to point out that the UTS journey towards a culture of greater inclusion started long before her arrival. Her role was created in response to recommendations made by the 2022 UTS report on Anti-racism, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Our Shared Responsibility by renowned education leader Dr. Avis Glaze O Ont. The report, initiated by Rosemary in response to concerns raised by our community during the COVID-19 pandemic, heightened by larger societal movements such as Black Lives Matter, was based on interviews with a cross-section of our community and served as an internal equity audit to guide our work forward.
"Being part of the senior leadership of the school and having a budget makes it possible to do the work. When you have a seat at the decision-making table, where it counts, you have the opportunity to reflect the diversity of opinion and voice present in the community," says Kim.
She was particularly impressed with how UTS puts anti-racism first. “Many places talk about equity, diversity and inclusion,” she said. “Very few talk about anti-racism first because that requires an acknowledgment of historic and systemic wrongs that need to be righted. The fact that that was first on the list at UTS anchored it in a commitment larger than just wanting to feel good.”
In Fall 2022, UTS embarked on the first full school year in its newly refurbished historic home, an iconic modernization of the old school building, located on the University of Toronto campus.
Before the school year started, all staff took part in a school-wide professional development session on creating inclusive spaces led by Kim, taking stock of systemic barriers, and learning common language about equity.
To celebrate the opening of our new home with the community that made it happen, UTS hosted a Homecoming celebration attended by over 1,000 alumni, parents, students and community members on the weekend of September 17. As part of Homecoming, Kim and the UTS Black Equity Committee led a community conversation, Into the New: Black Student Affirmation and Dismantling Anti-Black Racism. It was standing-room only as speakers Sudz Sutherland P ’21, ’25, UTSAA Director Dr. Jessica Ware ’95, Daeja Sutherland ’21 and UTSPA Co-President Zahra Mohamed P ’25 shared a candid conversation with our community.
“One of my sons is here at UTS at the moment,” said Zahra. “We want to build a community, where he feels, and other Black and diverse students feel welcome and are part of the community.” Jessica shared how although UTS was a real gift to her and she became part of the community, during her six years at UTS, there were times she was the only Black student in the school. “Now UTS has momentum and such strong support from the administration – I serve on the UTS Alumni Association board and equity, diversity and inclusion are woven into the fabric of what UTS is doing. Our school is in good hands moving forward.”
UTS staff, including Hijab Ahmed (left), the new Senior Officer, Equity Projects and Implementation; Vice Principal of Senior School Garth Chalmers (right) and Science Teacher Daniel Genesee (centre) work through scenarios on racism and discrimination about how to address issues, repair harm and prevent them from happening in the future.
Professional development sessions on equity continued throughout the fall. On November 2, a morning session focused on knowing our why – for Kim it’s because: “I want to leave a better world for the next generation coming in. I want people to know that they have a right to exist and thrive on this planet.” For the session, staff divided into mixed groups of teachers, operations staff and administration to encourage diversity of voice while collectively working through scenarios of racism and discrimination with a catch – they were based on real events that took place at UTS in the last two years. Everyone worked through the issues, identifying the type of discrimination that occurred, who has been harmed and how the situation could be prevented and addressed, ending with strategies to repair the harm that has taken place.
An entire day was devoted to equity on November 11, with staff convened in departmental professional development sessions led by guest speakers to explore approaches from other schools and broaden our understanding. A follow-up meeting on November 23 revisited the scenarios and solutions and encouraged staff to think about their sphere of influence and how to develop strategies to address and even prevent racism as a prelude to setting equity goals for each department.
Events also took place for the student and parent communities through Community Connections, a UTS volunteer group that aims to connect prospective students and their families from historically underrepresented communities with current students, families, and staff.
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Members of the UTS student group, Advancing Equity for Asians. Back left to right: Violette, Nicole, Nicole, Eshaal, Louis, Aiden and Julian; Middle: Mia, Akshita (featured in article), Sophia and Grace; Front: Staff supervisor Elsa Poon, an English Teacher.
S5 (Grade 11) Akshita, an Executive on Advancing Equity for Asians, says she’s noticed more conversations happening at UTS about equity. This fall, she took part in a panel for parents about how to talk to your children about gender and race, held at the UTS Parents’ Association General Meeting.
“The panel was a really big step to have this kind of conversation between students and parents,” says Akshita. “I don’t think it ever happened like that before with so many groups involved. We discussed subtle forms of discrimination that happen regularly that we don’t talk about and shared scenarios with parents to start the discussion.”
Along with Akshita, the panel involved student groups that were members of the UTS Social Justice Committee, including the Gender Equity Committee, Gender-Sexuality Alliance and Black Equity Committee, as well UTS social workers and parents.
The scenario she shared was about a child coming home and talking about Asian stereotypes – saying how they can’t compete with Asian students who always get good grades.
“If you don't really think about it almost sounds like a good thing and parents might not say anything,” she says, "but if you really dive in, it perpetuates negative stereotypes that put an intense pressure on Asian children to do well and create unfair competition between students based on race. That’s an important conversation to have.”
In the classroom, it starts with checking in with students and giving them what Kim calls ‘voice and choice’ in how they learn. "Instead of it just being a teacher-centered space where I tell you things and you write them down, you look at what students want to do, their aspirations and identities. Does everybody have to read the same book and write the same essay?"
The answer is adaptation.
Virginia Ki, the Health and Physical Education Department Coordinator, says Kim has helped steer her and her colleagues in a more intentional direction as the Admin liaison for her Department.
“Phys ed can be one of those subjects where some students feel less comfortable for whatever reason, and if they’re not comfortable or they don’t feel included or represented, how are they going to learn the lifelong skills of Health and Physical Education?" Virginia asks. "After high school, we want everyone to really know how to look after themselves – health is a very important thing.”
Virginia Ki, UTS Health and Physical Education Department Coordinator, who is also an Ontario champion for her age and weight category at the Ontario Masters Weightlifting Championship, and finished sixth overall in her weight class at the IWF World Masters Weightlifting Championships this fall.
Instead of saying everyone's going to play basketball, maybe the activity is throwing and there are many different ways to develop that skill, says Virginia.
For her F2 (Grade 8) class, the lesson became about game strategy, breaking it down into skills rather than sports: sending and receiving, and open spaces, which applies to basketball, handball, soccer, Indigenous games such as lacrosse, and other sports. “How do you find open space for sending and receiving? How do I move in a way that I can be more visible for my teammates so I can be more involved in the game?”
The ultimate goal for the department: “empowering students to find their identity and voice, to feel safe and seen, to be connected and heard and to build their confidence with various physical educational activities, as they work toward their personal health.”
M4 (Grade 10) Tyen says it was really nice to see Dr. Tavares on the leadership team this fall, when Tyen began her first year at our school. "It gives you a sense that it's not something unattainable when you see someone that looks like me in such a high position at a respected institution like UTS."
As an Executive on the Black Equity Committee, along with her sister Leyat, an S6 (Grade 12) student, Tyen says: "Overall we're going to consistently try to increase diversity and ensure that there is equity for Black students at UTS. The more racial diversity we can bring into the school, the better job we can do ensuring that we have racial equity, when it's not such a small population in the school where it's difficult to advocate for ourselves."
There are two photos M4 (Grade 10) Tyen thinks about when trying to explain equity – one shows three people in a row, standing on boxes to see a game, but they all have the same size box, so some people are shorter. “Beside that is a second photo, where they all have a box that evens out everybody’s height, so they can all see equally well, and it seems like the perfect thing – I got it. You're not necessarily giving everybody the same thing, but sometimes there are people that need more to get onto the playing field just to be at that same level. Ensuring that everybody has the same opportunities to get to that level is really what equity is.”
S5 (Grade 11) Oliad, an Executive on the UTS student Black Equity Committee.
Both Tyen and S5 (Grade 11) Oliad, also on the Black Equity Committee Executive, agree that equity is improving at UTS, and more students are talking about it. This November, the Black Equity Committee was part of a UTS Community Connections evening event for prospective students and their families from historically underrepresented communities to connect with current students, families, and staff. The Black Equity Committee also hosted events at the school for current students like a pizza lunch, as a chance for all Black students to get to know and support each other.
"It's significantly better from the time I came into the school, when there was only Leyat and me in our year, and one older Black student, maybe one or two others," says Oliad. "You were lucky if you had one other Black person in your entire grade. Now we have probably about 15 or 20 students. The numbers are definitely increasing and we all notice it."
Oliad hopes this trend continues and there will come a day when students don't have to think about race ‒ "Imagine a Black student coming in and being able to say, 'I'm just a UTS student' and not having that sort of divider between you and other people."
He feels that for his younger brother, an F2 (Grade 8) student, being Black is less of an identifier than it was for Oliad at that age. "As UTS diversifies its student body, hopefully the problem will slowly dissipate and these issues of race are not permanent. In the best sense, I hope we are worrying about these issues now so we don't have to in the near future and as people become more diversified, there will no longer be this separation by parts and the student body becomes whole."
.jpg&command_2=resize&height_2=85 "UTS Action Steps aim to instill equity into all facets of school life")
