Recognizing & Celebrating Pride Month in LS

Kimberly Formisano, Head of Lower School & Jessica Christian, Director of DEIB
 
At Brimmer, we are proud to recognize historically marginalized communities all year round, but particularly in their national months of celebration. These months include Latinx or Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15 – October 15), Black History Month (February), and Women’s History Month (March). Most recently, we recognized and celebrated Jewish American Heritage Month, Haitian American Month, and Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, both in May. We are very excited to close out the academic year by celebrating those in the LGBTQ+ community during Pride Month in June! 

Although the inception of Pride Month, which dates back to 1970, is a story of resistance and protest in the name of liberation and freedom to live authentically, over the decades, Pride Month celebrations have become joyful events that center around love, family, and honoring individuality. That is the spirit we will embrace in June, as it connects so deeply with our Core Values. Celebrating Pride at Brimmer also means celebrating a part of our community that is represented in our faculty and staff, our families, and our students in all three divisions of the School. 

The 5th Grade Diversity Lunch Bunch, which meets weekly, introduced Pride Month and explained the concept of having Pride in one’s community. They then talked to their younger peers about an upcoming Lower School community Pride project. The project is a Pride Flag activity, in which each classroom in the Lower School will create a class flag, which will be modeled after the traditional Pride flag, but will center on the pride students have in their classrooms and in themselves. 

We encourage families to focus on themes of love and family during Pride Month and to honor the range, even within the Brimmer community, of what makes a family a family. We are so happy to have children at Brimmer who take pride in their families and feel they belong, whether they live with a mom and a dad, two moms, two dads, one parent, or another family member or caregiver. Please take a look at this list of library resources created by our librarians. Below are more resources for parents to have discussions with students about LGBTQ+ topics in ways that are accessible for children of any age. 

We look forward to joy and warmth in June and to our Lower School students feeling Pride in themselves and their school community. 

As an inclusive private school community, Brimmer welcomes students who will increase the diversity of our school. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, or any other characteristic protected from discrimination under state or federal law, in the administration of our educational policies, admissions practices, financial aid decisions, and athletic and other school-administered programs.