Our Anti-Racism Anti-Oppression Statement

Clay-Platte Montessori School is situated on land once inhabited by the Očhéthi Šakówiŋ, Osage, Kaskaskia, and Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo).

The United States government broke many treaties with the tribes and forcibly removed Indigenous people from their ancestral/native land.  Over time, even most of this reservation land was stolen by the US government.  By utilizing this land, Clay-Platte Montessori School and its owners and directors acknowledge their ongoing complicity in the oppression of these indigenous groups.

Clay-Platte Montessori School recognizes that white supremacy is ubiquitous in the United States, both historically and systemically.  Furthermore, Montessori education is not exempt from the role educational systems have played in upholding white supremacy.

In light of our participation in both US culture and Montessori education, Clay-Platte Montessori School is dedicated to dismantling white supremacy and actively fighting against racism and oppression in the world, the global Montessori community, the United States, Missouri, Kansas City, Clay-Platte Montessori School, and within ourselves.

  • We resolve to explicitly and publicly state our Anti-Racist, Anti-Oppression stance in our published literature, including websites, brochures, mailers, and more.

  • We resolve to explicitly state that we are Anti-Racist and Anti-Oppressive in our enrollment forms and agreements, requiring parents to acknowledge and participate in the ARAO philosophy.

  • We resolve to ensure that our libraries, materials, and lessons reflect the diversity of students in each classroom and in the world.  We will focus attention on BIPOC and LGBT+ history and contributions to the US and the world.

  • We resolve to make Clay-Platte Montessori School safe and accessible to BIPOC students and families, LGBT+ students and families, and students with disabilities.

  • We resolve to acknowledge and root out racism and other forms of oppression that are unconscious within each of us.

We resolve to work with The Heart of America Indian Center dba Kansas City Indian Center to support their mission, to ensure that our students know the history of the indigenous peoples who inhabit and inhabited this land, and to uncover any anti-indigeneity within school personnel, curriculum or policies.