Stone Ridge Welcomes New Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion after Three Year Gap

After two years without a Director of Diversity, Stone Ridge has a new Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Ms. Michelle Black.
According to Head of School Mrs. Catherine Karrels, the school decided to “take a step back and to assess what [it] wanted the [diversity] program to be.”
This reassessment included a title change from Director of Diversity to Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The title change reflects a larger scope of work.

The school is “really working to making sure that every student who is part of our community and every person who is part of our community feels valued and respected,” said Mrs. Karrels.
The school hopes to make sure that students have their experiences reflected in their curriculum, according to Head of the Upper School Mr. Malcolm McCluskey.
“We want to be able to create a community where diversity is embraced,” Mr. McCluskey said. “We are hoping to take a deeper dive and look into our own curriculum.”
Before the return of the Director of Diversity position, many faculty members and students continued to move Stone Ridge’s diversity work forward by creating a task force. The task force’s job was to report back to the administration on the progress of furthering diversity work.
Two faculty members on the task force were English teachers Ms. Barbara Beachler and Ms. Caroline Fitzpatrick. Ms. Beachler is the adult support for Allies, which helps community members learn to support each other, and Black Student Alliance, while Ms. Fitzpatrick is the adult support for Spectrum, the LGBTQ+ group.
“There were a lot of challenges in the absence of a director,” said Ms. Fitzpatrick. “A lot of teachers and a lot of really amazing students rose to the challenge and helped to keep our momentum going.”
“What’s inspiring is programming still happened,” said Ms. Beachler. “Students have always been very excited about programming and work.”
“The appreciation and recognition of the importance of diversity work is a 24/7 job that needed to be continued with or without administrative guidance,” said Shira Nash ’19. “But with Ms. Black, we work much smoother. With a director, we feel her loving support as she truly believes in our ideas and concerns for the Stone Ridge community.”
Before coming to Stone Ridge, Ms. Black worked at Ransom Everglades School, a co-ed independent school in Miami. Ms. Black said she comes to Stone Ridge with the hopes of creating a bridge to “more faculty and student inclusion.”
“We all bring diversity,” said Ms. Black, who attended the all-girls Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead, New York. She went on to get her B.A. in English Literature from New York University, and her M.A in English Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She recently completed her M.S.Ed in Education in School Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania.
“I am not a revolutionary, and change is an evolutionary process,” said Ms. Black. She hopes to be the “point person for all members of the community for conversation.”