Inclusive Schools Week

Arm holding a megaphone. In a yellow bubble are the words: Every Voice Matters, Inclusive Schools Week

2024 Inclusive Schools Week Theme

This year’s theme, “Every Voice Matters,” echoes the fundamental belief that every individual has a unique perspective and contributes to the rich tapestry of our school communities.

Creating more inclusive learning environments, dismantling barriers to participation, and promoting equity and understanding among all members of the school community is crucial for several reasons.

Inclusive Schools Week will take place December 2nd-6th!

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Celebrate Inclusive Schools Week Dec 2nd-6th!

Join SFUSD school sites across the district in celebrating inclusion and disability awareness. This week provides an opportunity for SFUSD educators and community members to learn about the intersection of disabilities with other categories of identity, like race, gender, class, cultural heritage, language preference and other differences. Education and awareness are powerful tools to break down barriers and increase sense of belonging.

Check out our Inclusion Guide
Text above reads SFUSD. Image of a bridge and then silhouettes of children in rainbow colors holding hands in a circle. Text below reads Special Education Services

SFUSD Inclusion Guide

SFUSD has created this Inclusion Resource Guide which includes all the best resources, curriculum and activities from across the district. Many district departments, advisory groups and community organizations have contributed to this effort. 

Use this guide to develop an Inclusive Schools Week Plan for your school.

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https://inclusiveschools.org/isw/isw-2023-draw-me-in/

What is Inclusive Schools Week?

Inclusive Schools Week is an annual event sponsored by the Inclusive Schools Network (ISN) and Stetson & Associates, Inc., which is held each year during the first full week in December. Since its inception in 2001, Inclusive Schools Week has celebrated the progress that schools have made in providing a supportive and quality education to an increasingly diverse student population, including students who are marginalized due to disability, gender, socio-economic status, cultural heritage, language preference, and other factors. 

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Inclusive Schools Week Highlights

Check out our Inclusive Schools Week 2023 Recap for more pictures and highlights of the week. Keep the focus on Inclusion and Sense of Belonging by scheduling an Inclusion and Disability Focused Event or Assembly for your school site:

Inclusion Videos

A disabled boy turns playground bullies into friends. Animated Short Film "Ian"

“Until Every Barrier Falls” a poem by LeDerick Horne

Intersectionality & disability, ft Keri Gray, the Keri Gray Group #DisabilityDemandsJustice

Looking for more videos? Check out our Inclusion YouTube Channel

Sample Inclusive Schools Week Plans

Check out these sample site plans for inspiration

Early Education & Elementary Schools

Middle Schools

High Schools & Access Programs

Share Your Schools Celebration Plans!

Check out the SFUSD Inclusion Guide for Resources to plan your schools celebrat…

Inclusive Schools Week Activities & Ideas

10 Easy Inclusive Schools Week Celebration Ideas
  1. Build a Peace Corner 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 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 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" or the Special Olympics Virtual Assembly 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 website for inspiration. 
  7. Check out the Inclusive Schools Network or 30th Anniversary of the ADA celebration guides for resources and ideas for your school community.
  8. Do some of the Champions of Inclusion Activities from the Inclusive Schools Network.
  9. Join the “Spread the Word to End the R-Word” Initiative
  10. Visit ADA30 in Color - 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. 
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Inclusion Articles and Resources
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Inclusion Videos

Check out our Inclusion You Tube Channel for more videos!

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Grounding documents: talking about Race & White Supremacy Culture
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LGBTQ+ Resources

Click on the links in the PRIDE Virtual Classroom to find a fun music LGBTQ+ Playlist, LGBTQ Heroes choiceboard, virtual library, 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 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 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 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 - 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

 

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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

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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 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 and recording to learn more about frameworks and resources to make your meetings meetings accessible!

2020 Bitmoji Inclusion Classroom:

Check out our Inclusion Bitmoji Classroom 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.

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This page was last updated on October 31, 2024