June 12, 2020

To Our District 27 Community,

We were saddened to hear about the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020

in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Our District 27 Community certainly feels this pain,

sadness, anger, frustration and anxiety.

District 27 has always been a wonderful mosaic of our immigrant families

standing side by side, creating the diversity that defines our District. As someone

who was born in the Philippines and immigrated to the United States as a child,

I have experienced racism first-hand. Over forty years later, it is disappointing

and unfortunate that we are faced with these challenges in 2020. We are

disheartened by the racism, bias, inequity, and social injustice that still exists in

our country.

As a District community, we will continue to become an even stronger family

and community by fostering an environment where respect for all remains a

priority and core value. We will continue to seek ways to support the

social-emotional, physical health and wellness of everyone in our community,

while continuing to make a positive difference. We will continue to emphasize

values of respect, integrity, tolerance, and understanding.

Our hope is to be collaborative and intentional in our efforts to create school

communities whereby one's race, creed, gender, or place of origin do not inhibit

them from receiving a high-quality education that prepares them for college

and career. We seek your partnership to foster respect for all within our children,

our schools and within our diverse neighborhoods. It is a time filled with anxiety,

fear, and uncertainty so it behooves all of us to celebrate and honor what makes

each of us unique. We need to rely on one another to stay focused on our efforts

to ensure a safe and secure environment for all students and families.

During the 2019-2020 school year, we began implementing district-wide training

on Glenn Singleton’s Courageous Conversations About Race (CCAR) protocol

and on understanding Implicit Bias, supported by NYCDOE’s Office of Equity and

Access (OEA). We are committed to ensuring that each school leader is

equipped with the skill sets that enable them to develop their staff’s

capacity to embed an anti-racist mindset in their school’s culture. This Spring,

each of our schools launched an Equity Team to understand the historical

context of educational inequities, support culturally diverse student identities,

and ultimately develop a school-wide plan to address student, staff and parent

engagement. These teams are comprised of key stakeholders, varying in their

roles and responsibilities. As a district, we are working in partnership with our

NYCDOE partners, including OEA and our Borough Office.

We need your support so that we can educate all of our students around

tolerance, respect and anti-racism.

review the collections Chancellor Carranza shared last week. They are living

libraries which will continue to expand:

• For Parents and Families: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/about-us/vision-

• For Employees: https://infohub.nyced.org/in-our-

We will also include resources on our District 27 website: www.district27nyc.org

Lastly, we encourage you to speak with your school's Parent Coordinator and

Principal to find out about ways to support in this effort across all of our schools.

Sincerely, 

Jennifer CarreónAmbert 

Community Superintendent