December 23, 2019

Dear Lafayette Elementary School Families:

At Lafayette, we believe in the importance of teaching painful history with

sensitivity and social awareness. Unfortunately we fell short of those values
in a recent 5th grade lesson.

For the past several weeks, the 5th grade has been studying the Civil War
and Reconstruction. To open the unit, DCPS curriculum calls for the study of
an article titled “A Nation Divided.” To showcase their knowledge, students
working in small groups had the option to add a reader’s theater, tableaux
or podcast. Unfortunately, several students of color were asked by their
peers to portray inappropriate and harmful roles.

During the classroom circles and small group discussions, students

expressed discomfort in the roles they were asked to play. Others expressed
uncertainty in how to respond or advocate for peers who were
uncomfortable.

The assignment was a mistake—our students should not have been tasked
with acting out or portraying different perspectives of enslavement and war.
That does not reflect Lafayette’s approach to culturally relevant and
sensitive instruction and will not be offered in the future. Here’s how
Lafayette is responding:

• Students who were directly impacted have been meeting individually

with members of the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) team and
administration to process and talk through what they need to move
forward.
 • Additionally, our SEL team will continue working with all 5th grade
classes to help rebuild community and trust to ensure we are
responding to what our students shared with us.

• Our SEL team and Racial Equity committee are supporting our
instructional planning to ensure all assignments are culturally
sensitive and appropriate. Our school is seeking additional outside
support to ensure our styles and practices reflect those values.

• Next month, our entire staff will have a full-day training hosted by
Courageous Conversations titled “Beyond Diversity” as part of our
ongoing work around equity and race.

• Lafayette’s Home and School Association is creating a Diversity and

Inclusion Committee, which will launch with open dialogue in January.

As the leader of the Lafayette school community, I am distressed this

happened and saddened our students were hurt. The voices of our students,
their resilience and their compassion continue to inspire me to lead us all
forward in a better way. If you have any questions or thoughts, please
contact me via email at

Sincerely,

Dr. B