Widening the Lens 2019

WELCOME! We are excited to announce that Far Brook’s fourth annual diversity conference for New Jersey independent schools will be held on Saturday, November 9, 2019. The title of this year’s conference is Class in the Classroom: Exploring Socioeconomic Diversity in Our Schools.

The benefits of an economically diverse independent school community cannot be overstated and yet this is a goal that presents challenges for tuition-based institutions such as ours. At the 2019 Widening the Lens Conference we will consider the extent to which we have adapted policies, programs, and curricula to create environments that provide access and representation and that value students from all socioeconomic backgrounds. Together, we will unpack this significant topic and begin the work of using this lens to examine our school cultures.

Conference Structure

The unique structure of this conference invites attending schools to assemble a “pod” of individuals, each of whom can play a role in advancing the diversity discussion at their school. Pods consist of two participants from each of seven constituencies: students, parents, teachers, administrators, diversity coordinators, alumni, and members of the Board of Trustees. Powerful learning and growth happen when we bring together this cross-section of voices and perspectives that exist within our own schools and share our challenges, experiences, and best practices with colleagues from peer schools.

Keynote Speaker

The keynote speaker for our Widening the Lens Diversity Conference on November 9 was Anthony (Tony) Jack. Dr. Jack is a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows and assistant professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.  He is the Author of The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges are Failing Disadvantaged Students, which was the 2018 recipient of the Thomas J. Wilson Memorial Prize by Harvard University Press.

WTL 2019 Conference Slideshow

Photos by Kristen Beveridge