Inclusive Schools Week

Welcome to the Home of Inclusive Schools Week 2024! Link to this section

On this page you will find amazing resources to support your school in celebrating Inclusive Schools Week in December and to strengthen your commitment to inclusion all year long. This year's theme of Every Voice Matters akigns with our SFUSD value of Sense of Belonging, a critical need for all of our students and families.

Inclusive Schools Week is like a giant IEP meeting for our schools and our district. It is a time to assess the progress we have made and set goals for our future. Having a clear understanding of your present levels is important when goal setting so this year we are excited to share the CACs Inclusion Site Survey(link is external). Take the Survey to see how your school is doing and then join schools across the district in pledging to add at least two new ways to be inclusive at your school site.

Inclusive Schools Week Activities & Ideas
Link to this section

10 Easy Inclusive Schools Week Celebration Ideas

  1. Build a Peace Corner(link is external) in your classroom or school yard. Create a quiet place for students to cool down and take a moment to regroup when they are feeling overwhelmed.
  2. Put up an inclusion bulletin board in your classroom or the school hallway. Hang up pictures of disability heroes(link is external) or student work on the topic of inclusion.
  3. Talk about Inclusion and Inclusive Schools Week during morning circle and include various modes of communication. For example, use sign language, foreign languages, and augmentative communication supports (including photos, pictures, and assistive technology devices, etc.).
  4. Read Inclusive books(link is external) with your students that represent all marginalized students.
  5. Extra Credit Assignment: Watch either of the district's virtual events: "Inclusion in San Francisco- From the Birthplace of the Disability Rights Movement to Today(link is external)" or the Special Olympics Virtual Assembly(link is external) with Phillip Gonzales and then write a reflection. 
  6. Encourage and help students submit work in the SFUSD Online Inclusive Arts Showcase. Checkout the Inclusive Arts Showcase(link is external) website for inspiration. 
  7. Check out the Inclusive Schools Network(link is external) or 30th Anniversary of the ADA(link is external) celebration guides for resources and ideas for your school community.
  8. Do some of the Champions of Inclusion Activities(link is external) from the Inclusive Schools Network.
  9. Join the “Spread the Word to End the R-Word”(link is external) Initiative
  10. Visit ADA30 in Color(link is external) - a series of original essays on the past, present, and future of disability rights and justice by disabled people of color. Published and edited by Alice Wong, of the Disability Visibility Project(link is external)

Inclusion Articles and Resources

Inclusion Videos

Check out our Inclusion You Tube Channel (link is external)for more videos!

Grounding documents: talking about Race & White Supremacy Culture

LGBTQ+ Resources

Click on the links in the PRIDE Virtual Classroom(link is external) to find a fun music LGBTQ+ Playlist(link is external), LGBTQ Heroes (link is external)choiceboard, virtual library(link is external), and more!

Embrace Diversity to Build Safer, More Inclusive Communities 

“Dominator culture has tried to keep us all afraid, to make us choose safety instead of risk, sameness instead of diversity. Moving through that fear, finding out what connects us, reveling in our differences; this is the process that brings us closer, that gives us a world of shared values, of meaningful community.”    
                                                 —bell hooks, Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope

To uplift Transgender Awareness Week, we highlight these resources(link is external) that emphasize why inclusive education is imperative and how the power of LGBTQ+ visibility fosters positive spaces of understanding and empathy where all students feel visible and accepted.

Visibility is Power(link is external) by Elementary educator Skye Tooley emphasizes the power of LGBTQ+ visibility in fostering positive spaces of understanding and empathy where all students feel visible and accepted. From Learning for Justice.

Inclusive Education Benefits All Children(link is external) by Melanie Willingham-Jaggers and the GLSEN Team. In confronting attacks on LGBTQ+ students’ rights to representation and safety in public education, we hold firm to creating inclusive and affirming learning spaces. From Learning for Justice

Advocating for LGBTQ Students with Disabilities(link is external) - a guide for educators and parents/guardians on supporting LGBTQ students with an IEP or 504 plan

The Trevor Project - 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health(link is external)

 

Disability Voices - Quotes from disability advocates

Disability Voices

“Disability is not a brave struggle or courage in the face of adversity. Disability is an art. It is an ingenious way to live.”
-Neil Marcus, actor/playwright


“Disability must be considered within an intersectional framework because it cuts across political, social, and cultural narratives and identities. An intersectional lens challenges the historically white, cisgender, heterosexual understanding of disability to more accurately reflect the narratives as told by lived experiences of disabled people.”
-Sandy Ho, community organizer


“As ‘invisibles’, our history is hidden from us, our heroes buried in the pages, unnamed, unrecognized. Disability culture is about naming, about recognizing.”
-Cheryl Marie Wade, “Disability Culture Rap”

 

“Staying alive is a lot of work for a disabled person in an ableist society.”
-Alice Wong, editor; Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century

 

“Overthinking is one enemy of disability etiquette, but so is making assumptions about what a person wants and needs. Of course, individuals with disabilities want to be treated like everyone else, but when we say that, we don’t mean “treat every person exactly the same. We mean recognize our humanity and meet us where we are at.
-Kyle Khachadurian, cohost, The Accessible Stall podcast

Past Inclusion Events

2022 Event Highlights:

  • Keynote Event: "Inclusion in San Francisco- From the Birthplace of the Disability Rights Movement to Today" Presented in partnership with The Longmore Institute on Disability, Support for Families, Parents for Public Schools. Check out our Keynote Glossary & Community Resources(link is external) to learn more about the Disability Rights Movement in San Francisco and the various resources the city has available through government organizations, community groups, etc.
  • 2nd District PTA 411 Wednesday: Inclusive & Accessible Meetings. Check out the slides(link is external) and recording(link is external) to learn more about frameworks and resources to make your meetings meetings accessible!

2020 Bitmoji Inclusion Classroom:

Check out our Inclusion Bitmoji Classroom(link is external) to learn more about Inclusive Schools Week, Special Education and Disability Heroes!

a bitmoji in a room with a large fish tank, a shelving unit, bean bag chairs, books and other resources.

Inclusive Schools Week Highlights Link to this section

Check out our Inclusive Schools Week 2023 Recap(link is external) for more pictures and highlights of the week. 

This page was last updated on January 6, 2025