Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

FPS is committed to addressing the educational gaps in our District. The FPS Office of Educational Justice is supported by the FPS’s Statement on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity and strategic plan. FPS believes diversity, equity, and inclusion are necessary for Fargo Public School to meet its  mission to “achieve excellence by educating and empowering all students to succeed.” Modeled on the Urban School Statement of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are necessary for Fargo Public Schools to meet its mission to “achieve excellence by educating and empowering all students to succeed.” 

At Fargo Public Schools, we will:

• honor the uniqueness of each individual, 

• embrace diverse backgrounds, values, and points of view to help build a strong, inclusive school community; and 

• prepare students as active agents of their multicultural society.

At Fargo Public Schools (FPS), the words “diversity, inclusion, and equity” drive action, to challenge ourselves, improve our systems, and grow as a community.

Diversity: Education is better where schools are composed of students, teachers, and families drawn from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, cultures, “races”/ ethnicities, religions, and sexual orientations. Yet a diverse school community alone is not enough. Inclusion matters.

Inclusion: At FPS, we seek to make our diversity one of our strongest assets. We strive to create a truly inclusive school community in each building and across the FPS district. We want our schools to be places where students and adults know they are welcomed, supported, and their faces, voices, and experiences are reflected and valued. We believe that the work of inclusion is a responsibility held by each of us, done for all of us, person to person, every day. Inclusion is not enough. Equity will be the measure.

Equity: FPS is committed to providing every student with an equitable opportunity to participate and thrive. We will:

• implement programs and practices that provide equal access and enable all students to thrive academically, athletically, socially, and emotionally. 

• examine and revise our curriculum and teaching practices as necessary to ensure that we are effective in reaching every student. We support our teachers to recognize and to understand the range of needs and learning styles among our students, and to hone their skills in building and sustaining an inclusive classroom. 

• affirm the uniqueness of each individual and value individual ways of existing in the world. We are committed to understanding how personal, cultural, and historical aspects of identity contribute to and enrich our school community. 

• teach individuals to reflect on their own cultural viewpoints and assumptions and to modify them when appropriate. We are committed to exploring the equity within FPS’s unique school culture to better understand the experiences of students and adults from diverse backgrounds as well as to challenge our own practices and mental models. 

• challenge every individual to interact meaningfully with the entire school community and to learn from one another, honoring our differences while embracing shared values. We provide a safe environment that encourages expression of our differences in ways that invite dialogue and education rather than cause alienation. We encourage curiosity and inquiry so that we can learn from a diverse range of experiences and points of view. 

• use the above practices to instill a consciousness of social justice, an ethic of citizenship, and a commitment to service. We teach and practice responsibility towards and engagement in our school, our larger community and the world.