Winter 2008 - Sacred Heart Schools

Committed to Diversity
& Multiculturalism
Sacred Heart Schools is fortunate to have Dora
Arredondo-Marron serving as its new Director
of the Office of Equity, Justice and Multicultural
Education (EJME). The Editor sat down with Dora
to ask her about her office and her goals for Sacred
Heart Schools.
Welcome to the Sacred Heart Community, Dora.
Can you please explain what EJME does and how it
enhances our community
EJME compliments the mission of the school by
focusing on the inclusion of everybody. How we do
that is we work with faculty and students and then I
advise the administration on issues of justice, equity
and multicultural education. As a school, our mission is
to educate the whole child and we want that child to go
out and be a leader. We want these children to grow into
adults who lead with their heart and mind and we want
them to know that it is their responsibility to keep equity
and justice at the forefront of how they influence the
world.
The Board of Directors of Sacred Heart Schools have
made a commitment to help support issues of access for
all. The main issues that the EJME Office focuses on are:
• Socioeconomic diversity
• Gender balance
• Racial diversity
• Access to all to community activities
Primarily the Office of EJME facilitates this by helping
families who want a quality Catholic education for their
child and would not be able to provide it without help.
I hope that the entire community knows that the EJME
Office is here for everyone. Sometimes the perception is
that the EJME Office only helps one group of students,
but the reality is that this office is open and inclusive to
all.
Building a multicultural experience on campus
enhances our community in many ways. First and
foremost, it supports our schools mission of having an
inclusive community. And specifically we benefit through
having more diversity in how we problem-solve, and
Dora Arredondo-Marron meets with a family in her office, which
is located on the third floor of the Main Building.
through sharing different perspectives, with a common
goal of having a peaceful community.
In action in the classroom, the students are encouraged
by their teachers to explore issues of justice and equity
and find issues and student service projects that they are
passionate about. After learning about these issues of
equity and justice, the students will become leaders who
are impelled to action (SHS Goal III). This makes Sacred
Heart a better place to be and the school benefits us by
having the mission of our school come true!
What EJME programs exist currently at SJSH and at
SHP Are they the same or different on each side of
campus
The programs that support the entire Sacred Heart
community are the Task Force on EJME, the SEED
(Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity) group,
ongoing professional development workshops, and the
Big Eight Book Club. There are parallel programs for
each division on campus. I provide more coaching and
support for the families in the elementary grades as the
child is transitioning to middle school and experiencing
adolescence. On the other side of campus, there are
student clubs that are very specific to high school. The
EJME Office runs the Multicultural Club and the Student
of Color and Allies Club.
Something new to this office is having a representation
from St. Joseph’s (Alison Trujillo) and SHP (Corie Tyson)
that come together weekly as we talk about students,
upcoming issues and workshops. Last October we
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