The Office of Equity and Engagement helps ensure the success of all our students through:

• Overseeing efforts to promote equity, including professional development and policy
• Supporting the family-school relationship through community engagement
• Providing workshops to families about how they can support their children’s education
• Removing barriers to school success by connecting families to resources such as essential needs and food pantries

The Office of Equity and Engagement also oversees

• Volunteers
• Community Partnerships
• Donations to our schools

Equity in Our Schools

Educational equity means that all children receive what they need to develop their full academic and social potential.

Working towards equity includes, but is not limited to:

• Ensuring high outcomes for all participants in our educational system and removing the predictability of success or failure that may correlate with a social or cultural factor
• Interrupting or dismantling harmful or inequitable practices and policies; examining biases; and creating a truly inclusive multicultural school environment for adults and children
• Discovering and cultivating the unique gifts, talents and interests that every human possesses

Four Key Equity Focus Areas:

• Equity Foundations: We want to be systemic and proactive as we make positive change. Let’s follow–and establish–best practices
• Diverse, Inclusive, and Rigorous Learning Experiences: “Define what a high-quality classroom looks like in the domains of curriculum, instruction, assessment, effective learning environment, and leading and managing a classroom, then incorporate culturally responsive attitudes and particles to each of those domains” –Carol Ann Tomlinson
• Growing Relationships: As we help our staff and students feel connected, supported and safe, we will learn from one another for our mutual gain.
• Supported/Supportive Staff: This includes diversifying our staff and equipping our educators to succeed and help all students succeed. 

A formalized Equity Framework and Data Dashboard are in the works and will be finalized as a part of our 2023-2029 Strategic Planning Process. 

Equity Professional Development
Our equity-centered professional learning program for staff includes several levels of commitment, from one-time opportunities all the way to a year-long Equity Certificate Program. Topics include implicit bias, asset-based instruction, accelerated learning for all, responsive classrooms, institutional bias, policy impact, decision-making, local history, community and family engagement, differentiated instruction, responsive language, and creating safe spaces.

Evolution of Equity Efforts at CCS
Browse the links below for details about how our division’s approach to equity has evolved and what positive impacts we have seen:

• 2020-2021: Equity goals and impact
• 2019-2020: Equity goals and impact
• 2018-2019: Equity forums
• Programs in place in 2018 and before

Community Partnerships

Charlottesville City Schools partners with community organizations in efforts to serve our students’ diverse needs.

Major partners include:

• Alliance for Black Male Achievement
• Blue Ridge Area Food Bank
• Boys and Girls Club of Central Virginia (adjacent to Buford Middle School)
• Chris Long Foundation
• City of Promise
• Cultivate Charlottesville
• Wildrock
• 100 Black Men of Central Virginia
• YMCA

We have many other community partnerships to support our diverse students. A few examples include:

• Books on Bikes
• Free Book Bus
• STEM and health science partnerships with U.Va

Aside from our local partnerships, our efforts to promote equity are also reliant on the expertise and programs of state and national partners.

Volunteer for Our Schools

• Check out our Volunteering page to learn how you can get involved in our schools.

Donate to Support Our Schools

We welcome your support. Donations from valued community partners support our efforts to provide a high-quality education to students in the City of Charlottesville.

We are most in need of new items that support our instructional efforts. 

• Amazon wishlist for EdZone Essential Needs Closet supplies

Contact the Office of Equity and Engagement