As an organization, we at Purpose Built Schools Atlanta define ourselves as a group of individuals who are committed to racial justice and equity as the guiding principle of our work. Our mission, vision, and core values affirm this commitment and make it central to everything we do. It literally drives our work every day.
The recent tragic and senseless killings of innocent Black Americans, including Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Aubrey, starkly illustrate the systemic inequality, pervasive injustice, and rampant discrimination still present in America. These events represent the pain of many other victims and families whose names we do not know. We are heartbroken; we are outraged.
But we are also determined to take that heartbreak and rage and turn it into positive action. Among many other practices, we are taking steps to eliminate the school to prison pipeline through our consistent use of restorative practices in lieu of traditional punitive discipline policies. We are also disrupting false narratives around how economically disadvantaged children of color learn through an academic approach rooted in culturally relevant, project-based instruction.
We deliver on this commitment to our families through a comprehensive support program that seeks to address many of the systemic, institutional, and structural barriers that often unjustly keep them from participating fully in school and community.
We deliver on this commitment to each other by pouring our beliefs and hearts into our work as life-long educators; through multiple professional learning opportunities related to racial justice, equity, and restorative justice issues; and by creating space for ongoing conversations around racial healing.
Our work, day in and day out, is about racial equity. Purpose Built Schools stands with the Black Lives Matter movement, and we stand with everyone who ever has and ever will work hard for equality, diversity, acceptance and, above all else, justice.