Resources

Book Recommendations

For Lower Campus Students

The Vanderbeekers of 141^st Street
By Karina Yan Glaser

The Vanderbeekers live in a Harlem brownstone apartment owned by Mr. Beiderman who wants the family of seven out by New Year’s. The five siblings ranging from ages four to twelve lead readers through a variety of plans to change the landlords mind. It becomes a neighborhood effort that results in entertaining chaos and a heartwarming story of what it means to be a community.
For Upper Campus Students

That Thing Around Your Neck
By Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

In these twelve riveting stories, the award-winning Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explores the ties that bind men and women, parents and children, Africa and the United States. Searing and profound, suffused with beauty, sorrow, and longing, these stories map, with Adichie's signature emotional wisdom, the collision of two cultures and the deeply human struggle to reconcile them.
For Parents

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
By Isabel Wilkerson

The Pulitzer Prize–winning, bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns examines the unspoken caste system that has shaped America and shows how our lives today are still defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.
For Faculty

How to Be an Antiracist
by Ibram X. Kendi

Some Americans insist that we're living in a post-racial society. But racist thought is not just alive and well in America--it is more sophisticated and more insidious than ever. And as award-winning historian Ibram X. Kendi argues, racist ideas have a long and lingering history, one in which nearly every great American thinker is complicit.

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List of 3 frequently asked questions.

Student Opportunities
Student Organizations and Affinity Groups
- Black Student Union (BSU) – Members of this group meet weekly to discuss African American culture and news.
- Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) – This group is designed to be a safe space for LGBTQ+ students and to educate the student body and faculty about queer things.
- Human Rights Club – To group educates about and advocates for human rights.
- International Club – This group gathers twice a month to discuss issues important to international students at SCS. They also sponsor the Chinese New Year luncheon and regularly bring in foods from various cultures to taste.
- Mental Health Awareness Club – Members of this group meet weekly to provide students an outlet to seek help and discuss available resources. Their goal is to increase awareness of mental health issues among members of the student body.
- Muslim Student Association (MSA) – This group’s goal is to open up a dialogue about Islam and Muslim issues from an American perspective. Students participate in several service opportunities in our local area throughout the year, as well.
- Voices for Change – This student-created and student-run club is dedicated to promoting a culture of inclusivity and tolerance within our community, and to advancing all causes that help increase diversity, inclusivity, and equity. We arrange the invitation of guest speakers to address the student body, engage in fundraising ventures, run awareness campaigns, and promote our agenda through activist methods while working with the administration to uphold our school's core values. We aspire to be agents of change on- and off-campus, and in doing so, hope to improve not only our school and our community but also ourselves.
- Women’s Rights Advocacy Club – Students meet monthly to increase awareness of the daily struggles that women face, and to inspire and empower the female community of Sierra Canyon.
Parent Opportunities

Sierra Canyon invites our Parents to participate in the Parent Association Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee (PA DEI Committee). Please join us in planning events, student and parent educational opportunities, and other engaging activities to build inclusion. Only when we celebrate our differences can we truly cultivate a community of belonging.

If you are interested in becoming a part of the PADC, please email SCSPA@sierracanyonschool.org.
Professional Development and Conferences
- Fall Conferences:
  - Community members will participate in the following conferences: People of Color Conference (POCC), Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC), Pollyanna Conference, and Courageous Conversations: Learning to Connect Authentically and with Compassion.
- Guest Speakers:
  - On October 19, we will welcome a visit from Dr. Howard Stevenson, Constance Clayton Professor of Urban Education and Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education.
- Book Talks/Discussions:
  - Over the summer, the School hosted an optional faculty and staff book read of How to be an Antiracist by Ibram Kendi. Over 65 faculty members volunteered to participate. A follow-up discussion group will be held on October 19.

2019-20 Lower Campus Events