LANSDALE – The North Penn School District (NPSD) is planning a Conversation Around Race and Ethnicity (CARE) Symposium to begin a dialogue that will support greater engagement of NPSD’s diverse families and community members. The symposium will be held Thursday, November 29, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Penndale Middle School library, located at 400 Penn Street, Lansdale.

The objectives of the meeting are:

• to share information on North Penn’s diversity and the cultural proficiency efforts;

• to gain feedback, insight, and ideas from parents, students and community members on their experiences with diversity in North Penn (where are we excelling and where do we need to improve?); and

• to solicit feedback from the community on the NPSD Cultural Proficiency Plan.

“North Penn continues to experience a growing diversity among our community and it’s something to be recognized and celebrated,” explained Dr. Jenna Rufo, NPSD Assistant Superintendent who is one of the event’s organizers. “It is important to create opportunities to discuss both the successes we are seeing and the areas in which we could improve so that we can continue to grow as a district and move forward.”

The CARE symposium will include an overview and celebration of the diversity within NPSD that highlights demographics, student perspectives and a review of academic achievement specific to to North Penn’s diverse students. Rufo will be joined in leading the discussion by NPSD Superintendent Dr.Curtis Dietrich, School Board Director Elisha Gee and Hatfield Elementary School Principal Dr. D’Ana Waters.

Various NPSD staff members will then discuss the NPSD Cultural Proficiency Plan and its four main goals: Reducing the Achievement Gap; Reducing Disproportionality in Special Education and Discipline; Recruiting and Retaining a Diverse Workforce; and Student, Family and Community Engagement. Participants will then break out into four smaller groups to discuss the goals in deeper detail and provide feedback regarding general issues/concerns.

Parents, community members and secondary school students are invited to attend. In order to plan accordingly, participants are asked to RSVP by using the form that can be found here and at www.npenn.org, or by calling 215-853-1031.