What We Believe

Dr. William L Cobb strives to be your child's greatest  and most joyous educational experience,  where the entire family feels at home and free to participate. 

We recognize the historic and centuries-long racism against and oppression of Black people in America. In light of this reality, we publicly denounce the culture of white supremacy and the marginalization of people of color and their cultures. 

We believe that addressing issues of race and white privilege is essential for mitigating the harm that structural racism has imposed upon all of us. Our continued silence and inaction will only stand to perpetuate injustice, bias, and racism as a whole. None of us will be free until we are all free. 

To inform our actions, the Cobb staff offers this statement of beliefs and commitments:

That Families are children’s first teachers and we will empower families to be active partners in their students' education. 

To do this, we will intentionally create a collaborative and inclusive space to design education with our families.

That in classrooms, hallways, and playgrounds education should be joyful, relevant and empowering; that true Black history should be taught in schools all year; that race is something we talk about fearlessly.

That addressing issues of race and color, and other matters of prejudice and discrimination that exist in our community and country, is essential for addressing the harm that structural racism has imposed on our community.

And we acknowledge that as a part of the education system, we have caused harm and perpetuated systemic racism and that we will actively pursue actions that disrupt this  and create healing spaces.

To achieve the above beliefs and commitments, we have created a committee comprised of Cobb teachers and staff called the Anti-Racism Task Force. 

The mission of the Anti-Racism Task Force is to actively promote the belief that all humans have equal value, regardless of apparent differences and to take actions that dismantle the racist policies in our school community that devalue and dehumanize people who do not identify as white. 

As a team we generate initiatives that work toward the goal and support the whole Cobb community with implementing them. Some initiatives that our committee has put into place are developing lessons around the Black Lives Matter movement, Tiger Joy Celebrations, Spanish Speaking Happy Hours, and developing structures for holding staff members accountable for behaviors that perpetuate white supremacy. We are currently developing spaces for families to share any thoughts or concerns, as well.

Our work is ongoing and will evolve as we continue to make progress toward becoming an anti-racist school.