| | | | | Dear Friend, As we step into February, a month where we honor Black History and celebrate love in many forms, Pollyanna has an especially significant milestone to share. Fifteen years ago, the first conference (later to become the Pollyanna Conference) was born at the Dalton School in New York, and this month, Dalton will host the 15th conference. This conference began as a vision from the Community Life & Diversity committee of Dalton’s Board of Trustees, which I had the honor of chairing. Our aim was simple yet powerful: to bring schools together to share their diversity challenges and effective practices, fostering collaboration and growth. That first conference, back in 2011, saw 16 New York City independent schools gather each with a 15-member POD, made up of administrators, alumni, DEI directors, faculty, heads of school, parents, students, and trustees. It was a day full of connection, learning, and action. From that moment, I knew we had discovered something special—a model that would empower schools to share wisdom and build more inclusive communities. Since then, many schools have embraced this model, seeing first-hand the impact of bringing people together who are deeply committed to making their schools better for everyone. As we celebrate Black History Month and Valentine’s Day, let us remember that love and history are woven into the work we do every day of Building Stronger and Kinder Communities. Warmly, | |  | | | | | Summer 2025 Workshop Series Launches Even though summer feels far away, get a taste of it now with the introduction our new series: Renewing Your Commitment to Your School’s Mission and Values. We are once again offering topical workshops with dynamic facilitators for one price for all 12 workshops for all of your school employees. In addition to participating live on Zoom, each workshop will be recorded, and archived and available to view until August 31. Click here to see this incredible line up and register your school before March 15 for the pre-sale price. | | | | | Many teachers are caught between students and parents. Or between conservative students and liberal students. Or between families on this side and families on that side. They have some students who have very high standards for them--wanting them to use the right words, be affirming, know how to not microaggress. But they also fear that other students might post their content online and doxx them. The fear surfaces non-stop. How do we face it? This is a workshop educators who desire to build courage and resource. | | | | | Humans are struggling to communicate deeply. When someone does something deemed objectionable, society’s answer may be to cancel that person. Participants in this session will unpack how cancel culture impacts teaching and learning and perpetuates a system of complacency within our classrooms that misdirects opportunities for healthy dialogue and growth, anti-bias education, and a much-needed investigation into our selves. Participants will walk away with tools and strategies to navigate and curb cancel culture within their classrooms. | | | | | Children are barraged with messages about gender and heterosexual norms everywhere they go - their homes, their schools, the media, and more. How do gender and sexuality affect everything from boys struggling in school to girls dropping out of the STEM pipeline, from sexual harassment to anti-gay bullying, from eating disorders to plastic surgery? How do parents, guardians, teachers, and schools provide safe environments for positive self-esteem, healthy identity development, and acceptance of differences? | | | | | We are living through one of the most politically polarized times. Research shows that Americans are more likely to moralize political and ideological differences -- good vs. evil and right vs. wrong. These binaries divide us and conceal our common humanity. Schools have been caught in the thicket of division. In this session, we will discuss strategies for holding a school community together with complicated dynamics and communal hopes. Join Saya McKenna & Maija Muncy who will be in conversation with Jason Craige Harris. | | | | The Teen Council Welcomes Jane Coaston Calling on teens to join us for a meaningful conversation about how to discern real news on February 23, with Jane Coaston, host of Crooked Media's "What A Day." Pollyanna Teen Council provides 13-to 18-year-old students with an unforgettable journey of discovery and connection through meaningful dialogue on important topics. Each monthly meetup on Zoom features a new special guest. Email us at info@pollyanna-us.org if you'd like to join! | | | | Join Us on February 4 at AAIE's 2025 Conference Conflict touches every school community -- whether an interpersonal spat between students or a larger clash spurred on by reactions to geopolitical strife and cultural tensions in the wider society. The global uptick in polarization means that now more than ever schools have to teach and model the skills of conflict transformation -- where individual dignity meets group dialogue. Click here for more information about Jason's keynote and the conference. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Healing Racial Battle Fatigue and Reconnecting with Joy Janet Stickmon’s workshop on 1/9/25 created a space for the group to define joy and reflect upon what brings us joy. We also explored ways to intentionally center joy in our lives as an essential part of health and well-being. It was a powerful hour and Janet's takeaways are incredible relevant and helpful. | | | | | | | | Your Values Are Not Partisan: Honoring Your Mission Within a Divided Community Thank you to Jan Abernathy and Jason Craige Harris for an hour session packed with support, advice and next steps. And thank you to all who attended for your engaging comments and questions. As someone said, “this workshop could have been 5 hours.” We’ll definitely bring this topic back! | | | | | | Assessments: Rooting Your School’s Strategic Narrative in Community Voices During this workshop, Jaci Nelson and Jay Golon explored ways to leverage community voices and diverse perspectives to craft ever more authentic and compelling narratives about your school community and its value proposition. They highlighted concrete ways to gather this information and use it to build community. | | | | The Enduring Need for Inclusive Curriculum Sam Hosein offered insightful takeaways from her workshop focusing on our 2025 K-8 Curriculum Extension: Find new and innovative ways to integrate racial literacy into your teaching and anchor it in the rich social emotional learning outcomes as it relates to fostering connection, belonging, and healthy identity formation in children. Don’t feel pressed to get through all the content and don’t feel scared to slow it all down, a lot. Manage skeptics through modeling the skills for inclusive dialogue upheld in this curriculum. | | | | | | | | | | A New Event Resource from Author Charles Vogl Events play a critical role in fostering community, bringing people together through shared experiences that create lasting bonds. Informed and thoughtful touches crafting shared time, whether small or large, can make individuals feel valued and seen, transforming seemingly simple moments into cherished memories and life turning points. When people gather with intention, the outcome is a stronger feeling of connection, trust, and belonging. Over time, these events form a foundation for a vibrant, supportive community where collaboration, understanding, and growth thrive. Click here to download the guidelines. | | | | Pollyanna K-8 Racial Literacy Curriculum Extension We've introduced nine new lessons, with ready-to-go slide decks and speaker notes for ease of teaching with lesson instructions, scenarios embedded at the end of each deck with guidance, and an FAQ on navigating challenging questions and scenarios. All of which are still free. These new lessons and teaching materials should serve as examples of how flexible and expansive the curriculum is and ways teachers can interpret, modify, update, simplify, or expand the curriculum to best align with your educational goals and meet the needs of all our students. Click here to download the new curriculum. | | | | | | | | "As a 25-year educator, I’m excited to teach the Pollyanna curriculum for the first time. It’s thoughtfully written, rich in resources, and supports critical content. At my progressive school, leadership has empowered us to integrate Pollyanna with our established Intergenerational program, creating a new class called Belonging, Inclusion, and Intergenerational Learning (BIIG). Throughout the 2024-25 year, I’ll be connecting our Grand community (elderly residents) with students through aligned conversations and experiences. Pollyanna’s curriculum equips younger students with social-emotional skills for meaningful interactions, while older students gain a deeper understanding of how U.S. history shapes modern society. I'm grateful to be part of the Pollyanna community." Karen Poffenberger, Hudson Lab School | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Pollyanna, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation 501(c)(3). © 2025 Pollyanna | New York, NY 10075 | | | | | | | |
