Social Justice Spotlight

Social Justice Spotlight is one of many ways that we ensure that all Shady Hill students are engaged in meaningful and positive identity-development work. In keeping with the School’s  mission to foster “joyful, active learning informed by multiple perspectives — empowering students to be intellectually adventurous and wholeheartedly just,” Social Justice Spotlight is non-affinity-based antibias/antiracist programming that Shady Hill students engage in to help live out their responsibility to “honor differences, challenge prejudice, and strive for racial and social justice.” While some students meet in Affinity Groups during certain Middle School Assembly times, all other students participate in Social Justice Spotlight seminars. 

We develop our Social Justice Spotlight programming based on what students are interested in, what is happening in the national and global news cycle, and what is happening on our own campus. We use the middle school social justice anchor standards laid out by Learning for Justice in the learning domains of identity, diversity, justice, and action as we develop these lessons. 

Our next steps for Social Justice Spotlight include providing more opportunities for students to make connections between our social justice programming and their lives outside of the classroom, in order to deepen their relationships across lines of difference and take action towards a more socially just world.