Lakeside School and the Parents and Guardians Association: Partnering in learning opportunities

Dear Lakeside School parents and guardians,

Lakeside School is a community of lifelong learners — and that includes all of our families. Throughout your family’s time at the school, you’ll have opportunities to learn from educators, from each other, and from your students. Lakeside’s Parents and Guardians Association (PGA) partners with the school to offer ways to learn about a range of topics in a variety of ways.

Inclusivity is one of the core values of Lakeside School, as well as a commitment to educational equity. While each family has its own set of values, we can only be successful as a community when we have some shared values that bring us together. The PGA offers multiple programs focused on cultivating an inclusive and equitable community; by participating in these programs, families contribute to the life of the school.

PGA programming complements learning opportunities hosted by Lakeside. In particular, this year’s education opportunities about dialogue will overlap with PGA programming. We hope you will be able to attend the two upcoming webinars about dialogue (adult-to-adult and adult-to-child) on Sept. 30 and Oct. 9, both from 7-8:30 p.m.

We hope you'll devote some time to one or more of these opportunities to learn and to form meaningful connections with other families. We further hope that, as you make these connections, you will experience how dialogue works as a tool for exploring ideas, understanding differences, and offering support as we learn from each other.

T. J. Vassar Diversity and Community Group

Open to all Lakeside parents and guardians, this PGA group meets on a regular basis to support the school community in its efforts to understand, embrace, and promote diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging. Named after transformative Lakeside alum and leader T. J. Vassar ’68, who was instrumental in creating the diverse environment Lakeside is today, the group aims to foster a deep sense of belonging for every family at Lakeside and strengthen our school community. Through working together on communications, events, and educational resources, members weave connections with each other, connect across difference, and learn from each other through meaningful conversations. Learn more about this group.

As part of its work, the group manages a set of resources for community learning that represent a variety of perspectives, tools, and vehicles that can be used to help broaden our understanding of what it means to cultivate an inclusive community. Check out the online resources or stop by the PGA Office at the Upper School to check out a book from the PGA learning bookshelf.

Parent and guardian affinity groups

We know identity impacts the ways in which community members experience Lakeside School. Students, parents and guardians, and employees have the opportunity to participate in affinity, alliance, and learning groups. An affinity group is a gathering of people who share an identity (e.g., race, sexual orientation, gender, socioeconomic class) and recognize that their identity affects the way in which they move through the world. Affinity groups provide opportunities for participants to reflect on a shared identity and their experiences within the context of the school and our community.

Parent and guardian affinity groups are sponsored by the PGA and designed to support families whose backgrounds historically have been underrepresented in the school. We have three main goals for these parent and guardian affinity groups:

To foster a diverse and inclusive community, a key aspect of the school’s mission.
To provide opportunities for parents and guardians to share experiences relating to their own or their students’ identities and how those experiences impact their families’ engagement with the school.
To facilitate relationships and build community among Lakeside families.

The affinity groups offered change over time, based on identified needs of our students and families. Meetings start in the fall and are held regularly throughout the year. The following groups will be meeting during the 2024-2025 school year.

Parents and guardians of Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander students.
Parents and guardians of Black, African American, African, or Afro Caribbean students.
Parents and guardians of Jewish students.
Parents and guardians of Latino/a/x or Hispanic students.
Parents and guardians of students with learning differences (such as dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, and processing disorders).
LGBTQ+ parents and guardians and/or parents and guardians of LGBTQ+ students.
Parents and guardians of multiracial students.
Parents and guardians of South Asian students (this group is also welcome to attend the Asian, Asian American, Pacific Islander group).

If you would like to participate in one or more of these groups, please complete this brief questionnaire; once we know your preferred group(s), the facilitator will reach out to you with more information. We recognize the groups do not represent all the identities of our parent and guardian community. If you are interested in being part of a group that is not listed, please contact Nilu Jenks, the PGA’s vice president for community, equity, and inclusion, or Tina Subherwal, the PGA affinity groups coordinator, at info@lakesideschool.site.

Learn more about affinity groups on the PGA affinity groups webpage.

Why this work is important

When we respect and embrace our differences — our wide range of perspectives, opinions, and experiences — all of our students, families, and employees can feel a sense of belonging. When we see, hear, and value the knowledge each person brings, we can learn from each other and gain a deeper understanding of each others’ perspectives. Our relationships with each other make us stronger, both individually and as a community. We hope these shared efforts to see and relate with each other inspires productive conversations within and among our families. We encourage you to learn more about the PGA’s work in diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at lakesideschool.org/pga-dei.

Feel free to reach out to any of us below with questions or comments. As parents and administrators, we are excited to be on this journey together and we sincerely hope that you will join us in supporting Lakeside’s efforts to be a community where every person is seen, heard, valued, and loved.

Sincerely,