Current Efforts

Over the next two years (2025-2027), the district will implement anti-bias lessons in K-12 classrooms and increase the certified staff who can provide professional development with the Courageous Conversations protocol. We will train all staff to recognize and interrupt biased language, utilizing the "Speak Up at School" strategies: Interrupt, Question, Educate, and Echo. Restorative practices will be central in addressing incidents of bias, emphasizing dignity, learning, and accountability. Our commitment to anti-bias efforts and restorative practices is not just about addressing incidents—it’s about fostering a culture where every student feels valued and supported. This aligns directly with our district’s strategic vision of belonging and academic success, where students are seen, heard, and empowered. Learn more about the Anti-Bias Education (Spring 2025) education efforts.

The Family and Community Promise is a critical part of our equity centered strategic plan. This winter, we partnered with the Washington Family Engagement Center to complete a needs assessment and begin our strategic planning. We are integrating our anti-bias approach into family engagement to ensure all families feel valued and included, addressing historical marginalization through multilingual communication and bias recognition tools. Over the next two years, we’ll implement Family Engagement Standards, conduct walkthroughs for alignment, and provide workshops and professional development to ensure sustainable and effective engagement at both school and district levels. Our Family Engagement Pillar Advisory is actively working with over 60 participants, including multilingual families, to strengthen our efforts, focusing on flexible and culturally responsive two-way communication and strategies that builds trust and shared responsibility.

Our History

In July of 2020, Evergreen Public Schools hired their first Executive Director of Equity and Inclusion, Klarissa Hightower, and established an Equity and Inclusion department. To get a current understanding of Evergreen's current Equity status and to ensure that our district's Equity work was informed by data, Klarissa Hightower initiated a third-party equity audit to launch a district-wide transformation. EPS partnered with Education Northwest to conduct the Equity Audit and support the district to identify actionable next steps. The audit explored two key areas 1) recruitment, hiring and retention of staff members of color and educator quality and 2) student access to learning opportunities and achievement. 

The school year of 2020-2021, was incredibly challenging as our community responded to over a year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the structural challenges that arose with distance and hybrid learning, all teachers and school administrators engaged in training and professional development with the Courageous Conversations Protocol led by the Pacific Education Group. In addition to the district-wide PD, EPS held community affinity group forums, designed an EPS Equity lens (decision-making tool), formed the District Equity Advisory Committee and began the process towards defining and approving an EPS Equity Policy.  

During the school year of 2021-22, the SEL team and Equity Advancement specialists merged, with the hire of the Director Jamila Singleton. The districtwide focus on culturally responsive practices was established during districtwide PD, and ongoing support for schools with Heritage Month resources. These tools are currently available on the Equity PD Canvas site. The EPS Board of Directors adopted the Operational Expectation: Equity  and Equity Results Policy. 

Heading into 2022-23, the team continued to support Culturally Responsive Wrap Around Supports and aimed to build capacity with each of the following audiences to continue the process of systemwide transformation. The EPS Equity Lens, Lente de Equidad, ЛИНЗА СПРАВЕДЛИВОСТИ and the Courageous Conversation Protocol will remain as tools to guide conversation and shift our actions to maximize opportunities for equity, while we also support site-based Equity Teams in each of our school buildings. 

As we approached the fourth year of our efforts to eliminate disproportionate outcomes, EPS launched the equity centered strategic plan. From the vision of student success, through the core values and strategic priorities, efforts to elevate the pedagogy of student voice, and culturally responsive in our practices are embedded. The district continued the focus on Cultural Heritage months and began to expand efforts to develop a culture of safety and belonging by introducing student presentations from our Equity Advisory Committee members who provided the student-led professional development facilitation and Equity PD Modules that illuminated challenges with belonging and provided recommendations for enhancing restorative practices. In addition, the department expanded efforts to include the bilingual family liaisons and secured an OSPI grant to fund a language access coordinator role. Equity Teams grew their efforts across schools as a focus on Street Data emerged, as we continued to develop the capacity to address the pedagogy of student voice through co-generative dialogue and empathy interviews. It was our first year with the Student Advocating for Equity or S.A.F.E group led by advisors who also began collaborating with the Student Advisory Council as they worked to advise the Board and provide input to the newly appointed student School Board representatives.