The Karson Institute has selected City Neighbors High School* in Baltimore, MD as our inaugural KI Education partner. Under the direction of Dr. Karsonya "Kaye" Wise Whitehead, teachers and staff will spend the year being trained in culturally responsive teaching and instruction; racial equity training, and the social construction of race; creating and maintaining classrooms of excellence and exclusion; and, curriculum and lesson plan development. The training has been custom designed to support the equity and inclusion initiative already happening at CNHS.

*City Neighbors High School is a public charter high school located in the Glenham-Benhar neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Opened in 2010, City Neighbors High was the third school launched by the larger City Neighbors Foundation program, a Baltimore-based charter organization.

Year One Recap (2021 -2022)

During the first year of the QN Training, we focused on Mindset: Intentional Transformational Work, designed to deeply engage in metacognitive culturally responsive activities that included monthly reflection and collaborative activities. The training was designed to build on the teacher’s understanding and awareness of race, equity, inclusion, and diversity. The purpose was to assist teachers in discussing key strategies to implement and expand a multicultural and diverse curriculum and increase the administrator's and staff’s awareness of intentional equity and inclusion. Although this was an ongoing process of change and discovery, the expectation was that teachers could immediately adjust their work in the classroom. By spending time reflecting on where they sat on the question of race as well as furthering their understanding of equity and inclusion, teachers became more cognizant of some of the challenges of their diverse students and became more critical of the resources, lessons plans, and assessments that they were using in their classroom.

Year Two Plans (2022 - 2023)

During Year Two, teachers will focus on strengthening their skills in three areas: Student and Family Relationships (Engagement); Developing Culturally Responsive Curriculum and Instruction (Curriculum); and, Intentional Transformational Work (Mindset)

QN Equity Liaisons will receive monthly hands-on training to work as Equity and Inclusion trainers: Learning how to lead discussions on how we see and define ourselves using race-based concepts, words, and theories; Reflecting on and teaching about internalized racial inferiority and superiority; and, Helping teachers to outline specific steps that can be taken to make changes in themselves and in their classrooms.