2025 ACSA Equity Institute

Vista Unified is in the third year of community school work, and eleventh year with a focus on Family and Community Engagement. We will share practices and timeline to support others in their journey.

- Have a list of strategies to increase family and community engagement.
- Align FACE work with LCFF priorities.
- Understand the relevance of community partnerships with equity.

Designing professional learning that supports white leaders to examine and reflect on their racial identity is absolutely essential to creating more equitable schools. Using the work of the UC Berkeley Leadership Programs as well as the 21st Century California School Leadership Academy, we will share about two different White Anti-Racist Leader Networks. You will hear from the facilitators about common dilemmas and issues that surface as well as stories of impact that emphasize the importance of this work.

ABOUT OUR SESSION:
Historically, MVHS had a small population of multilingual students, but like many schools across California, we are experiencing an increase in those numbers. This presents both challenges and opportunities, as we work to serve all students who have a wide range of learning needs within systems and processes that were established long ago. In contrast to their primary focus on becoming fluent in English, many of our newcomer families bring an extensive educational experience from their home countries and deeply value schooling. This nuance requires that we are even more thoughtful about designing an individualized instructional program for some of our ELs.

This session will start with an overview about our journey, wins, and obstacles as we are building an ELD program mostly from scratch. In the second part, we wil facilitate interactive discussions where participants can have an opportunity to learn in community about what they are most interested in, from the experiences and expertise of others in the room. We will provide scaffolds to help attendees gather, organize and reflect on different aspects of this work, which they can take back to their own schools. Our goal is to resource everyone in the room to help guide all of our schools’ journeys. We are all developing, promoting, and sustaining effective supports for each of our unique populations of multilingual students and their families, so we want to learn from other people.

MONTE VISTA HIGH SCHOOL’S BACKGROUND AND VALUES:
The Monte Vista High School community demographics have changed significantly over the past five years. Our student and caregiver populations are becoming more racially diverse, and we are seeing an increase in enrollment of English Language Learners and newly immigrated students. As a predominantly White (but shifting) staff, all of whom are native English speakers minus a few, we have made it a priority to closely examine at all of our practices through an inclusive lens. This includes being more intentional with instructional and social-emotional strategies, to re-assessing our definitions of what a “positive campus culture” and “school spirit“ mean, to deepening awareness throughout our athletics programs, and to dismantling and rebuilding various systems that have become embedded in our school over the years. We have a long way to go, but our conversations are more transparent and courageous than ever. We are proud to be doing work that can sometimes feel uncomfortable… which is how we know we are doing the right work.

During the session, we will explore self-care through developing self-awareness and strategies for mindfulness. We will expand on how these tools can also be adapted in a team environment to support accessibility and inclusivity in diverse teams. We will also share a tool to assess emotional engagement at work and how teams can support the well-being of all team members through structured routines. The practices in the session are rooted in Liberatory Design Mindsets, including: practicing self-awareness, building relational trust, and working to transform power.

This session will share research based approaches that inform the design of affinity groups that uplift, amplify, and empower underrepresented leaders to thrive in their work environments. Using the work of the UC Berkeley Leadership Programs as well as the 21st Century California School Leadership Academy, we will share concrete ways to facilitate powerful professional learning that supports leader of color retention and effectiveness. Specifically, we will share about a successful district based leaders of color network as well as regionally based affinity groups for African American, AAPI, and Latinx leaders.

Recognizing a growing need to support LGBTQ inclusivity in education, Leading LGBTQ+ Supportive Education was added to the complement of professional development opportunities for school administrators offered by the Los Angeles Unified Human Resources Division. The series focused on critical topics such as transformational leadership, administrator wellness, human capital management, coaching, and leading computer science.
This session aimed to equip school site leaders with the knowledge and tools to foster affirming environments for LGBTQ+ students, staff, and families. Topics included foundational LGBTQ+ definitions and concepts, an overview of relevant LAUSD and state policies, and strategies for implementing visible support and inclusive language. The professional development also emphasized the importance of establishing LGBTQ+ liaisons, creating student groups like Genders & Sexualities Alliances, and embedding ongoing training for administrators to address real-world scenarios.
Participants noted several key takeaways:
• The critical role of inclusive language and visible allyship in fostering affirming school spaces.
• The need for sustained training to deepen understanding and tackle practical challenges.
• The value of scenario-based learning and access to dedicated resources to implement LGBTQ+ policies effectively.
This presentation will highlight the program's design, key learning outcomes, and participant feedback while sharing actionable strategies for attendees to replicate.

Tolteka takes us on travels through Ethnic Studies Pedagogy (ESP), framing, and praxis. From a leader in the field, journey through experiential activities, and the correspondent Ethnic Studies disciplinary framings, that remind us, Ethnic Studies Pedagogy, cannot simply be conflated as culturally relevant/responsive pedagogy. When brought to genuine fruition, ESP can actually support students’ positive racial identity development, through helping to heal, sustain, and revitalize/regenerate students’ identities as holistic human beings, and in transformational ways – bringing the academic and social benefits that Ethnic Studies is known for (e.g. increased student attendance, higher graduation rates, higher college going rates), in the process. Learn more about how to bring this to fruition, in theory and pragmatically.

How can LEA and schoolsite administrators/leaders, teachers, and most importantly, students, learning these key Ethnic Studies framings and activities — help cultivate a connection to collective care, wellness, and be a small step towards helping to eradicate racism for a more just and equitable future? 

www.tolteka.com