STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

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Chickpeas strives to be more than just the school where your child goes, but also an intentional community that fosters deep and vulnerable relationships among its families, children, and staff. Intentional community requires that members step outside themselves and consider the best interests of the community over their own. This process can be incredibly rewarding and extremely challenging. This document is designed to create a shared understanding of our values and how they are expressed in action. It aims to hold community members accountable to one another, as we navigate inevitable differences in opinion, beliefs, and ideas about children, school, and learning. We hope that everyone that decides to join Chickpeas can embrace the rewards and challenges that arise when building and sustaining a compassionate intentional community. 

 

The Code of Conduct aims to align the Vision, Goals, and Expectations for communication and behavior among the staff and families of Chickpeas. 

 

• VISION: To create a learning environment and community that reflects the inclusive, equitable, and joyful society we want our children to live in.

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• GOALS: To foster productive and respectful dialogue surrounding the staff, families, and operations of Chickpeas.

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• EXPECTATIONS: All members of the community will abide by the values laid out in these Code of Conduct.

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VALUES / AGREEMENT

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1. Community

The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members.

- Coretta Scott King

 

We are a Community first. None of us thrive if we do not all thrive. Chickpeas depends on each member recognizing the interdependent nature of the world we live in. We are dependent on each other to make our community intentional and we are stronger when we operate as a team.

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2. ​Communication

It’s important to make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.

- Barack Obama

We communicate transparently, honestly, and with compassion. We acknowledge that we each come to the table with implicit biases and narratives and will endeavor to communicate with humility and kindness. All questions are good questions.

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3. Both / And Thinking: 

Everything can be a 'that'; everything can be a 'this'.

- Chuang Tzu

We practice both/and thinking. We acknowledge and understand the way that binary thinking limits what we see as possible and undermines efforts toward compromise and community building. We strive to move beyond good/bad, right/wrong, us/them stances and understand there are rarely only two options.

 

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4. Accountability

Mistakes are proof that you are trying.

- Jennifer Lim

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We practice accountability and restorative justice. We can all cause harm, even with the best of intentions. We can assume that everyone in our community has positive intentions and yet we will still need to respond to negative impact as it occurs. Restorative justice is the commitment to repairing harm while staying in community. No one is disposable.

 

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5. Risk Taking and Growth

When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my vision - then it becomes less and less important
whether I am afraid.

- Audre Lorde

 

We lean in to risk-taking, growing edges, and unease. In our efforts to foster an equitable, inclusive, and joyful community we understand there will be growth required of each of us. We understand that discomfort is at the root of all growth and are willing to jump into the messiness, whether or not we feel completely ready. We acknowledge that perfectionism and expectations of comfortability hold us back from the important work we have to do together.

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6. Equity and Inclusion

The function of freedom is to free someone else. 

- Toni Morrison

 

We use an equitable and inclusive lens to assess our community and acknowledge that we all have blind spots when it comes to evaluating our own access to power and privileges in society. We understand equity and inclusion are necessary frameworks for both our interpersonal relationships and our organizational structure. We pay attention to who is and who is not in the room.

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