A letter from Head of School Maria Castelluccio

June 19, 2020

Dear Léman Parents, Students, Faculty and Staff,

During the past several weeks, our community has come together in a number of ways to talk about racial injustice and how we will move forward as a school to ensure we live up to our mission of diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

I am proud of the courage and bravery of our black community members for speaking up and for their role in pushing us to take further action. I am also proud of our non-POC community members for listening, hearing black voices, leaning into this conversation, and for their commitment to educate themselves and take action to support racial equality in our school community and beyond.

While the progress we have made together over the years, weeks, and days is positive and commendable, it is not enough. We must do more to ensure we are truly an inclusive place of learning for our black community members. 

One way in which our black community members are asking to be heard is through an Instagram account created yesterday, blacklemanspeaks. I urge you all to read the accounts of these current and former students. It is clear from their stories we need to do better. To the students and alumni who are taking the positive step of sharing their stories, I would like to personally apologize for the pain and the suffering you have experienced at our school.

We each must take personal accountability to support an inclusive learning environment, be anti-racist, and break down our own racial biases. This is simply the only way forward - for our school, our country, and our world. You have my commitment I will do my part, and I am asking for your commitment to do your part as we move forward together.

The voices of our black community members must be heard, acknowledged, and acted upon. This is a responsibility that each of us share - individually and collectively. Whether you are a parent, administrator, teacher, staff member, or student at Léman, we have all chosen to be here and part of being a community member of our school is to help uphold our mission of diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

In the coming days, I will be outlining a number of action steps we will take during the summer and into next school year to support this commitment. We will be sharing information about meetings this summer to discuss the path forward together. We will also be providing resources for parents, faculty, staff, and students, as well as a recording of the June 10 online session for parents and employees. 

I look forward to your feedback, your valuable contributions to this conversation, and to your participation in the work that we need to do together. As always, I am available for your comments, questions, and concerns. 

I am listening. 

Sincerely,

Maria Castelluccio

Head of School