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1. Resonates: It's not just about removing institutional barriers, but also actively creating conditions to empower Black students. I think a lot of people have said this already, but I think taking a deep look at Expedition is a good place to start with creating empowering conditions.

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This reminds me of a practice we did during summer orientation. We need to identify teaching practices (and our own biases) that do/don’t support our black students. Those that do not replace those practices with ones that do

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How will we know by the end of the 20-21 year that we have achieved this instructional focus? What are the concrete indicators that show we have fully removed an institutional barrier? How will we progress monitor our work on this IF along the way?

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1. Naming barriers really resonates with me.  I think we need to name, assess, and make a plan for overcoming each barrier a student faces.  I would challenge that we broaden our typical definition of barriers (for example it could be a barrier for a black student to have a white teacher) and include systemic/societal and social emotional barriers, not just academic or socioeconomic barriers.
2.  I have a conflict with the word "agent"...I know we are thinking of agency and leading their own learning, but I wonder if this might be a place to use more empowering language and infuse joy and purpose into the education of black students.
3. I think we have a lot of white lead teachers...our family engagement feels tailored to privileged families...(to my knowledge) we don't have research-based general ed phonics curriculum which could be a a great equalizing tool for students who have difficulty learning to read.

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1. Look at our policies as a school and how they impact (and potentially criminalize) our Black/brown families. For example, truancy policies.
2. We also have to re-examine what we're teaching the children entrusted to us. Are the things we value as a school (or district or nation) still relevant to their lives, well-being, safety, and in developing agency within their communities? I'm thinking of this on in terms of academics, socio-emotional, and the things we teach them **implicitly** (e.g., in who TR hires for various roles within our community).

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1. We need to unpack what the institutional barriers are.
2. How much of this is in our (teachers and staff) control?
3. What does it look like when Black students are empowered in their learning?

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How are we celebrating black joy?

How do we demonstrate the possibilities for our black students within our organization (leaders they can relate to)? How can we highlight black models in the building?

what things at school and in the organization have we accepted as "just the way it is" that we can change in order to lead this work (curriculum, expedition, discipline, staffing, etc.)

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We need to identify and define what the "institutional barriers" are, both within our society and our school, and then all the teachers who work at Two Rivers needs to be on board to remove those barriers. If it calls for change to some traditions at Two Rivers, are we prepared to change?

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Fully taking the time to understand Black students and finding ways to connect.
Figuring out barriers

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1. Creating conditions as an entire community of TR and within the classroom in person and virtually.
2. How can we push the boundaries of what we considered to be in our locus of control to dismantle institutional barriers? What stopped us from doing these things before?
3. Expedition being assigned topics versus allowing students to have choice in a topic that they are passionate about and is still developmentally appropriate.

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What is our strategy for action? Can we transition from discussion to taking concrete steps to achieve our goals? What specifically are our goals and the steps needed to achieve them? When we present students with complex projects we help them break it down. If we can identify our barriers, break these down into concrete goals with a way to measure success, we are more easily able to act on those problems.

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I think this is the perfect time to shift the focus of expeditions towards race, equity, and social justice. Because it is such an unprecedented time, now is a perfect time to break from tradition and put our instructional focus at the forefront of what we teach and discuss with our students. I think devoting more time and space to understanding, discussing, and dismantling racism may be one way to empower black students, and educate white students on how to become co-conspirators.

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How are we ACTIVELY removing barriers to empower Black students and families?

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1. Removal of roots of oppression..what does that mean from a school focus?

-EL and black students and how this is done well
-Parent perspectives..understanding and acknowledge black parent experience
- Sense of self...are we purposely creating space to foster this for our black students?

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Black students need special care and consideration if we truly want to dismantle the racism that breathes life into so many parts of our society. This includes schools, which are embedded in racist intentions. So as an organization, we will need to be intentional and strategic about how we are going to put even the smallest dent in achieving our instructional focus.

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1. Explicitly names empowerment of Black students, which is important
2. What are the instructional barriers? To what extent are we recognizing school/K-12 education as inherently racist? In what ways are we abolishing our racist structures and rebuilding to center Black students?
3. We must challenge and abolish teach practices that do not empower Black students and replace them with practices that do
- How are we actively holding one another accountable in this work, especially holding white teachers accountable? What opportunities will we have to challenge, connect, and reflect so that we can truly revolutionize our way of teaching in order to achieve this instructional focus (and reimagine school that is built for and meant to empower Black children)?

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1.  That we need to build institutions that are just, loving, equitable, and center Black lives.
2. Nothing really raising conflict for me— but I do wonder, are all teachers at TR going to be on board with this concept of Abolitionist schools?
3. - All teachers need to get comfortable talking about race and equity. When we don’t feel comfortable, we don’t engage and brush kids off. These seemingly small interactions matter. We have to get comfortable with having conversations that may be uncomfortable. We need training to ensure all teachers feel comfortable.
- We need to re-examine our expeditions with a critical eye to ensure we are not upholding White Supremacy—  i.e. Jamestown

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