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HAPPENING NOW

The school year has (virtually) begun! Stay tuned!

UPDATES

August 13, 2020: The entire NPA staff received an anti-racism training which featured alumni speakers and presenters. This was the first of many anti-racism professional development opportunities to come.

August 10, 2020: The Committee had its first meeting and will now be called the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee. They have formed sub-committees to address each of the Six Actions outlined in this Open Letter.

July 9, 2020: The NPA Board met to discuss and vote on the statement acknowledging NPA’s role in student and staff experiences of racism at school. Representatives of the NPA Anti-Racist Coalition were included in the discussion. The Board and Coalition agreed upon a final version of the statement, which was approved unanimously by Board members. The full statement is published on the NPA website here. The Board also voted to appoint continuing Board member Cristy Zeller as the chair of the new Anti-Racism Committee.

July 6, 2020: The NPA Board ratified a Board subcommittee to lead and oversee anti-racist work at NPA! They were not prepared to vote on the Acknowledgement Statement because the statement had not received adequate legal review. A second Special Board Meeting was called for this Thursday (7/9/20) to review and vote on the adoption of the Acknowledgement Statement.

June 20, 2020: The NPA Board held a Special Meeting to discuss the Open Letter, during which over 80 attendees (excluding board members and administration) listened in! During the meeting, former Principal Toni Keberlein shared a statement with the NPA community, which is available in full on our Instagram @bebetternpa. At the end of the meeting, the Board decided to return during the next regular Board meeting on July 6, 2020 to vote on a statement acknowledging NPA’s role in perpetuating racism and on the establishment of a Board subcommittee to lead anti-racism work at NPA moving forward.

June 19, 2020

An Open Letter to the Board, Administration, Faculty and Staff

of Northland Preparatory Academy (NPA)

From NPA Students, Alumni, Teachers, Families and Community Members

As we mourn the losses of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Tony McDade, Dion Johnson, and countless other victims of racialized violence carried out by police and others, we, as Northland Preparatory Academy (NPA) students, alumni, teachers, families and community members demand that action must be taken within the school to challenge the systemic racism the institution upholds. The horrific incidents of police brutality and racial injustice over the last few weeks have opened up a global conversation about the consequences of systemic racism, and it is time Northland Preparatory Academy takes action, too. Today, June 19th, also commemorates the 155th anniversary of Juneteenth, the historic day when the last enslaved peoples held in bondage within the United States learned that they had been freed. We recognize that our country has been built by people who were enslaved on land unjustly taken from Indigenous peoples, and that the racism and discrimination against Black Americans is alive and thriving today. In addition to anti-Black racism, racism against Indigenous and Latinx people is significant in Flagstaff. NPA represents and reflects the wider Flagstaff community and as such has a duty to the city and its students to begin to combat systems of oppression that victimize and target Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).

NPA’s Mission Statement reads, “Northland Preparatory Academy provides a coordinated, individualized program of study that promotes academic excellence and provides educational opportunities for serious middle and high school students, regardless of  gender, ethnic origin, economic or academic ability.” In this statement, the school declares its intent to support all students, but this mission is impossible if NPA does not engage in anti-racist work. Additionally, the school’s own history of racism and bias among students, faculty, and parents, as evidenced in the testimonials below, necessitates acknowledgement and action. We urge the leaders of NPA to create meaningful change both within its own halls and within the wider Flagstaff community, beginning with instating comprehensive education on race, racism, and anti-racism. NPA is uniquely positioned to help students and faculty to become educated leaders in their communities and the world at large. As such, the school has a responsibility to ensure that students are well-equipped to understand systemic racism and bias and to continue anti-racism work after their time at NPA. We believe that through our educational system we can begin to dismantle systemic racism and white supremacy, and finally make progress towards stopping senseless killings and the wrongful incarceration of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).

NPA, like many elite educational institutions, has a long history of racism and has actively avoided anti-racism work. As a predominantly white institution, it is irresponsible and dangerous for NPA to think itself as exempt from these conversations and from this work, especially while claiming to “get students ready for college and help them grow into responsible leaders and citizens.” Discussions on race and identity are instrumental in creating an inclusive learning environment for all students and preparing students to live in our diverse and complex world.

As NPA students and alumni, we urge the administration to acknowledge the harm students have experienced as a result of racist and prejudiced behavior at NPA, and take the following Six Actions to make NPA a more inclusive and anti-racist institution. Many of these actions are being undertaken by schools across the nation in response to recent events:

  1. Publicly acknowledge that, by failing to build an anti-racist institution, NPA perpetuates racism and white supremacy. Acknowledge the following specific points on the NPA website, social media, newsletter, and in upcoming public meetings:
  1. NPA has and continues to have a culture of white privilege which protects privilege among its white students at the expense of Black students and students of color;
  2. NPA has not and does not currently have a formal curriculum about Race, Identity, and Privilege, which constitutes a serious and dangerous omission from a well-rounded, modern education;
  3. The demographics of NPA’s student body do not accurately reflect the demographics of the Flagstaff community at large;
  4. Many students and alumni experienced traumatic microaggressions or incidents of racism while at NPA and that the above issues contributed to those incidents. NPA also failed to hold perpetrators properly accountable for those actions; and
  5. Acknowledgement without action is ineffective. To truly address racism and prejudice at NPA, the school will also commit to the following actions:
  1. Establish mandatory educational requirements on race, identity and privilege for faculty, staff and students, including:
  1. Support for professional development for faculty, staff, and administration including but not limited to accessible and applicable training (ex: bias in college letters of recommendation), and the provision of support and resources to assist teachers in reworking curriculum to be more racially conscious. Professional development should be followed by proactive goal setting for policies and actionable items (ex: setting SMART goals for the institution, faculty, and staff);
  2. Developing anti-racist resources and curricula for all students. This could include a year-long course, dedicated “wellness” meetings during advisory periods with an emphasis on students’ roles and responsibilities in social justice, and the adoption of a “Race & Identity Day” each year to center conversations on identity and privilege among students and teachers; and
  3. Decolonizing existing curricula, including in Advanced Placement courses, specifically by focusing on perspectives and pedagogies of BIPOC. Include BIPOC figures, leaders, and works by BIPOC (such as reading at least one book per semester by a Black author in every English class, and featuring prominent BIPOC figures of the Civil Rights Movement that are often erased, such as Angela Davis, Yuri Kochiyama, etc). We compiled this Anti-Racism Resource List as a place to start.
  1. Review and revise protocol for identifying and addressing racist and otherwise discriminatory and/or hateful behavior and speech, including, but not limited to:
  1. Ensuring that the existing app-based tool for reporting incidents of bias is accessible to all students and educating students on when to report, how to file a report, and what to include in their reports;
  2. Creating a clear and transparent channel through which such incidents will not only be monitored but responded to and addressed in a timely, respectful, and attentive manner; and
  3. In the biannual Transparency and Accountability Report detailed in Action 6 below, reporting the number of incidents of aggression, profiling, and other misconduct that occur within each 6-month period and the steps taken to address these incidents.
  1. Implement a strategy to ensure the faculty and student body reflects the demographics of the larger Flagstaff community, which includes, but is not limited to:
  1. Expanding outreach channels for hiring faculty such as advertising to historically/majority BIPOC universities;
  2. Expanding outreach to underserved and primarily BIPOC areas of Flagstaff, such as Sunnyside, other majority-Latinx communities, and Indigenous communities;
  3. Improving access to application materials by providing versions of the application in Spanish, Diné, and other non-English languages, and by offering an alternative to submitting application packets in-person to accommodate parents and students who cannot deliver application packets during school hours; and
  4. Providing sufficient support for faculty and students from BIPOC communities (for example by creating affinity groups that meet regularly).
  1. Take action to make NPA more accessible to students from low-income families by: 
  1. Improving data collection on the number of students eligible for the National School Lunch Program (eligibility criteria for many programs and services), the primary barriers for low-income families not applying to send their children to NPA, and the primary barriers experienced by students from low-income families at NPA;
  2. Ensuring that a Free and Reduced Lunch Program is available and widely publicized to all students;
  3. Buying, subsidizing, or otherwise assisting in providing laptops or tablets for students who cannot afford their own and promote affordable internet offers from Internet Service Providers, such as SuddenLink’s affordable internet program, which is available to families with children who qualify for the National School Lunch Program; and
  4. Taking steps to improve transportation access for students to NPA, whether through a bus or van system, providing free Mountain Line bus passes to students (current Mountain Line K-12 Student passes are $49/semester or $119/year; there are two bus stops within a block of NPA) a structured carpool system, or another means.
  1. Provide a biannual (every six months) Transparency and Accountability Report (TAR) detailing NPA’s progress towards fulfilling these requests and plans for future anti-racist work including though not limited to:
  1. Holding a public meeting for the publication of each TAR that is open to all NPA students, alumni, parents, and teachers, where the results of the TAR can be discussed;
  2. Making each TAR publicly available on NPA’s website and via email all NPA students, alumni, parents, and teachers; and
  3. Providing opportunities for community input on the TAR and all anti-racist initiatives throughout the year.

NPA is a special and important place to us – a place where we were inspired by incredible teachers, where we formed lasting friendships, and that shaped us into who we are today. For these reasons, we are deeply invested in holding NPA accountable to the above Six Actions. We recognize that these requests will require significant time and resources to complete. As members of the NPA community, we are committed to assisting where possible, including through identifying resources and engaging our own connections and expertise.

We recommend a first step of convening a discussion among students, alumni, faculty, and parents to inform a path forward, followed by a statement of acknowledgement and commitment to action by NPA administration with appropriate accountability mechanisms.

By acknowledging the ways in which NPA has failed us as students and alumni by contributing to systemic racism, in addition to providing recommendations for anti-racist education, we call on the board, administration, faculty and staff of NPA to urgently address this issue.

Sincerely,

NPA Students and Alumni (Full list of signatories below)

SIGNATURES & TESTIMONIALS

If you are an NPA student, alumni, parent or teacher and would like to sign this letter, please click here.

In addition to signing this form, NPA alumni and students are submitting testimony of racism and discrimination experienced or witnessed during their time at NPA. You can submit a testimony here (testimonies can be anonymous).

Got ideas for how NPA can improve? Submit your suggestions here. This question is also available on the Signature and Testimonial forms.

Change requires resources. If you are able, please consider donating to directly support anti-racist curriculum, trainings, and services for NPA students here.

If you would like to engage further, you can email npa.antiracist.coalition@gmail.com.

Signatures

  1. Rachel Kesler, '15
  2. Kevin Ho, '15
  3. Jasmine Mueller-Hsia, '14
  4. Kaylana Mueller-Hsia, '15
  5. Isabella Berglund-Brown, '15
  6. Juliana Berglund-Brown, '17
  7. Austin Kwan, '20
  8. Delaney Page, '18
  9. Ella Santana-Propper, ‘14
  10. Molly Ryan, ‘13
  11. Keven Griffen '13
  12. Emily Fule, ‘13
  13. Gage Griffen, ‘16
  14. Stephanie Hoyt, ‘13
  15. Tadao Kumasaka, ‘16
  16. Shay Wilberger, ‘11
  17. Cassandra Pinaire Wilberger, ‘11
  18. Seva Haug-Baltzell, ‘13
  19. Bradley LoStracco, ‘16
  20. Nicole Ganey, ‘14
  21. Marley Caliendo, ‘16
  22. Timothy LoStracco, ‘18
  23. Madelyn Powell-Kristell, ‘13
  24. Brigitte Nicoletti, ‘13
  25. Alana Minkler, ‘17
  26. Marissa Vonesh, ‘15
  27. Ethan Fox, ‘15
  28. Hannah Riedemann ‘17
  29. Ashley House, ‘15
  30. Keelah Barger, ‘18
  31. Jessica McMillin, ‘10
  32. Hannah Riedemann, ‘17
  33. Sean Stevens, ‘17
  34. Neida Rodriguez, ‘16
  35. Ian Kearsley, ‘13
  36. Skye Schelz, ‘16
  37. Heidi Charles, ‘12
  38. Mark Mellott, ‘13
  39. Leah Harris, ‘17
  40. Petra Gee, ‘17
  41. Felicia Jarrin, ‘17
  42. Jillian Wagner, ‘15
  43. Regan Gee, ‘14
  44. Michaela Nation, ‘15
  45. Megan Dwyer, ‘10
  46. Clifton Beck, ‘09
  47. Stephanie Lin, ‘11
  48. Makoto Moses Kumasaka, ‘14
  49. Elizabeth Scarnati, ‘14
  50. Adam Grodman, ‘15
  51. Annabel Angel, ‘18
  52. Zachary Casali, ‘17
  53. Samuel Yellowhorse Kesler, ‘16
  54. Rachel Danner, ‘16
  55. Sylvie Grodman, ‘15
  56. Corrin Kalinich, ‘15
  57. Sarah Hsia, Family of NPA Student or Alum
  58. Skye Schelz, ‘16
  59. Nikole Luebbe, ‘06
  60. Chloe Jarrin, ‘20
  61. Amelia Ho, ‘18
  62. Joshua Fuller, ‘16
  63. Spencer Ridley, ‘17
  64. William Schwartz, ‘20
  65. Angelo Cencioso, ‘15
  66. Clare O’Brien, ‘16
  67. Eliza Moyer, ‘21
  68. Logan Dwyer, ‘08
  69. Sierra Ferguson, ‘12
  70. Alice Ryan, ‘14
  71. Ari Schwartz, ‘17
  72. Dana Leib-Perry, ‘21
  73. Abigail Mills, ‘23
  74. Andrea (Picard) Irwin, ‘13
  75. Ella Zambonini, ‘23
  76. Isabel Rushall, ‘23
  77. Caitlin Sample, ‘10
  78. C. Taylure Dalmolin, ‘13
  79. Tyler Tran, ‘23
  80. Haley Jackson, ‘14
  81. Josue Cruz, ‘17
  82. Thea Evans, ‘17
  83. Nicholas Durham, ‘11
  84. Macy Martinez, ‘19
  85. Leah Savery, ‘13
  86. Anna Yee, ‘16
  87. Reilly Cashmore, ‘15
  88. Caitlin Rynn, ‘10
  89. Rachel Ryan, ‘19
  90. Linnea Williams, ‘15
  91. Ayame Palmer, ‘21
  92. Leah Harris, ‘17
  93. Bonnie Kesler, Family of NPA Student or Alum
  94. Andrew Foss, ‘18
  95. Ginger Blodgett, ‘20
  96. Devin O’Brien, ‘18
  97. Clara Kohnen, ‘21
  98. Sarah Dries, ‘23
  99. Eliza Van Dyk, ‘16
  100. Robert Collins, ‘12
  101. Gabriel Edgerton, '19
  102. Megan Meyer, Flagstaff Resident
  103. Emma Landsiedel, '13
  104. Sarah Spotts, '11
  105. Holly Clark, '19
  106. Rosemary Burkhalter-Castro, Former Middle School Student
  107. Luke Fredenberg, '15
  108. Raven Manygoats, '14
  109. Robert Young, ‘12
  110. Kurt Mueller, Family of NPA Student or Alum
  111. Genevieve Smith, '22
  112. Abbie Downard, ‘16
  113. Zane Koch, ‘17
  114. Dr. Amy L. Smith, Family Member
  115. Rachel Dunn, ‘24
  116. Whitney White, Former Teacher
  117. Jordan Barriga, ‘21
  118. Julia Needhammer, ‘10
  119. Grace Vonesh, ‘20
  120. Daniel O’Brien, ‘19
  121. Riley Rusinsky, ‘19
  122. Valerie Cruzm ‘15
  123. Catherine Propper, Family
  124. P. Cody Canning, Teacher
  125. Quinn Scully, ‘15
  126. Julia Ferolie, ‘19
  127. Mia O, ‘22
  128. Janet Hill, Family
  129. Rebecca Harkness, ‘11
  130. Kyle Savery, ‘16
  131. Margaret Harkness, Family and Board Member
  132. Rob Powell, ‘16
  133. Chris Sogge, ‘10
  134. Shane Q. Arlington, ‘11
  135. Rylan Shannon, ‘16
  136. Jordyn Baker, ‘13
  137. Callie Johns, ‘13
  138. S. Ramsey, ‘13
  139. L. Tate Montgomery, ‘14
  140. Athena Angel, ‘15
  141. Abigail Benton, '24
  142. MYKA BECENTI, '16
  143. Jillian Raab, '21
  144. Benjamin Hall, '16
  145. Lizzy, Former Student
  146. Maya Harvey, '23
  147. Monica Brown, Family
  148. Becca Schlanger, '14
  149. Kyle Savery, '16
  150. Patricia Murphey, Family
  151. Caleb Ring, '15
  152. Eva Ramirez, '16
  153. Sofia Linskey, '19
  154. Cassie Schrader, '11
  155. Jeff Berglund, Family
  156. Ava Anderfüren, '24
  157. Courtney Morgan, '10
  158. Marissa Schrader, ‘17
  159. Kristine Pavlick, Family
  160. Maryn Coate, ‘22
  161. Jasmine Nunez, ‘22
  162. John Green, ‘22
  163. Bethany Cox, Family
  164. Trippie Red, ‘24
  165. Jasmine Smith, Family
  166. David Johnson, Family
  167. Hiro Davidson, Family
  168. Margaret Baldwin, Family
  169. Nichelle Hodge
  170. Ryan Anhold, ‘15
  171. Katelyn (Moore) Brassanini, ‘17
  172. Jake Hodge, Family
  173. Madison Nelson, Former Student
  174. Taylor Bailey, '17
  175. Mike Heinonen, '16
  176. Simone Charles, '12
  177. Savery Family, '13
  178. Leilah Danielson, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  179. Brian Wallace, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  180. Meg Moyer, '23
  181. Ricardo Guthrie and Family, Student's Class of 2019
  182. Stephanie Petrie, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  183. Sanjay Joshi, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  184. Yinya (Grace) Huang, '13
  185. Honor Pomeroy, Former NPA Student
  186. Elizabeth Hartley, '12
  187. Sarah Kolb, ‘09
  188. Meg Moezzi, '20
  189. Ashley Carlson, '11
  190. Daniel Suhr, '08
  191. Erika Hubbard, '08
  192. Beth Claxton, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  193. Evert Bondurant, NPA Student
  194. Joshua Riot-Marshak, '24
  195. Sanjam Ahluwalia, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  196. Hannah Vonesh, '13
  197. Aeka Joshi, Former Student
  198. Seraphin Cutter Nokomis, ‘24
  199. Andrea Lopez, ‘18
  200. Mario Cruz Jr., ‘16
  201. Lucy Drey, ‘19
  202. Xavier Ledford, ‘24
  203. Jason Sealover, ‘18
  204. Christine Dunn, Family
  205. Kalyana Connor-Gordon, '19
  206. Kaelan Monroe, NPA Alum
  207. Kinzer(Kinzi) Baker, '11
  208. Peter Fulé, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  209. Linnea Vagen, '20
  210. Rodrigo de Toledo, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  211. Laurie Jordon, '24
  212. Kim Nguyen, '21
  213. Aspen Weichberger, '13
  214. Kirsten A. Mueller, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  215. Wesley Baron, Teacher or Staff at NPA
  216. Kayla Arendt, Teacher or Staff at NPA
  217. Savannah Spotts, '14
  218. Anne Wallace, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  219. Emily Rand, '07
  220. Kendra Krietsch, '08
  221. Seva Haug-Baltzell, '13
  222. Whitney Rooney, Teacher or Staff at NPA
  223. Livia Taylor, '21
  224. Brienne Harvey, ‘21
  225. Mía Garcia, ‘19
  226. Nalzheii Lonetree, ‘19
  227. Chela Scurlock, ‘13
  228. Joel McMillin, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  229. Leah Almquist, ‘17
  230. Dayne Pratt, Teacher or Staff at NPA
  231. Robert Hibbert, '15
  232. Harrison Howie, '18
  233. Robert Ferolie, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  234. Raina Page, '14
  235. Krista Johndrow, '22
  236. Sara Bendel Ryan, '19
  237. Jayden Dvorak, '21
  238. Katie Woodard, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  239. Nick Rogers, '19
  240. Leah Nichols Richardson, '21
  241. Hannah Janiec, '11
  242. Sarah Wallace, '21
  243. Namiko Service, '16
  244. Samantha Meier, '08
  245. Katelyn E Vagen, '14
  246. D. Mendoza Engelthaler, Former Faculty and Parent of an Alum
  247. Phillip Magana, Community Member
  248. Michael Gordon, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  249. Belinda Donahoe, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  250. Delaney Donahoe, '21
  251. Mollie Donahoe, '24
  252. Manuel Santana-Propper, Community Member
  253. Leo Brown, ‘21
  254. Danielle LaPlante, Former Student
  255. Maya Guthrie, ‘19
  256. Maddox Schuessler, '24
  257. Sara Porter, '14
  258. Karrie Lundstrom, '19
  259. Morgan Oster, '13
  260. Giovanna Thul, ‘17
  261. Laura Hempleman, ‘11
  262. Madeline Carlsen, ‘21
  263. Allison Budwig, ‘17
  264. Katelyn Watkins, Former Student
  265. Jonah Brandt, Community Member
  266. Savery Family, ‘13
  267. Chris Lofquist, Family
  268. David Ganey, ‘11
  269. Sophie Applin, ‘19
  270. Sarah Watkins, ‘13
  271. Trevor Skeen, ‘18
  272. Svea Conrad, Community Member
  273. Valerie Schlosberg, Family of an NPA student or alum
  274. Caitlin Peretti, ‘13
  275. Melanie Santana-Propper, Community Member
  276. Anamaria (Velasco) Ortiz, Teacher or staff at NPA
  277. Renee Aguirre-Gleeman, Family of an NPA student or alum
  278. Austin Kerr, Teacher or Staff at NPA
  279. Abigail Stetson, Community Member
  280. Zion Gleeman, '22
  281. Luke Money, '08
  282. Sarah Goodman, '21
  283. Jak Kearsley, NPA Alum
  284. Alena Thomas, '11
  285. Alexandra Zavala, 20
  286. Benjamin Guerra Davis, 15
  287. Rose Delaibau, Community Member
  288. Cheryl Schrader, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  289. Madeline Carlsen, '21
  290. Nancy Nichols Richardson, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  291. Savery Family, '13
  292. Elise Lyn, '19
  293. Joy Mills, '20
  294. Samantha Rodriguez, ‘24
  295. Youssef Abdelaziz, ‘19
  296. Angie Lee, ‘15
  297. Josiah Stuart, ‘19
  298. Emily Kerr, Substitute Teacher
  299. Kyle Openshaw, ‘19
  300. Deborah Harris, Community Member
  301. Sara Young, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  302. Julianne E. Skeen, ‘18
  303. Mia Montoya Hammersley, ‘07
  304. Natalie Svob, ‘23
  305. Evelyn Rushall, ‘22
  306. Samantha Clifford, Family of an NPA Student or Alum
  307. Kai Bergland, ‘09
  308. Alden Smith, ‘22
  309. Sara Stephens, ‘22
  310. Armando Garcia, ‘20
  311. Nevaeh Talkalai, ‘22
  312. Kaya De Angelis, '20
  313. Catherine Massalha, Teacher or Staff at NPA
  314. Alexa Hart, Community Member
  315. Noah Nichols Richardson, '19
  316. Alex Thomas, ‘11
  317. Mark Lancaster, Teacher or Staff at NPA
  318. Jacob McDaniel, ‘17
  319. Rena P. Alvarez, ‘25
  320. Karen Knappenberger, Teacher or Staff at NPA

Testimonials

  1. “We had a school-wide assembly where an NPA administrator told all the students that ‘they don’t see color.’ This denied the existence of my cultural identity, instead of acknowledging, respecting, and embracing it. Claiming to be "color-blind" is a microaggression, and NPA administrators should know better.” - NPA Student, Class of 2015

  1. “During my time at NPA, there were several instances of microaggressions and dangerous and hurtful rhetoric disguised as "dark jokes" both said by students and staff. Throughout my six years at NPA, jokes were repeatedly made about jewish stereotypes (including Jewish money jokes), and many comments were made about my nose in relation to my Jewish identity. Additionally, a substitute teacher once went around the classroom saying who would be persecuted during the Holocaust. As someone with ancestors who died in the Holocaust, this "game" of sorts was horribly disrespectful and triggering, and also modeled detrimental behavior that made it seemingly okay to evaluate people's ethnic identities based on their appearance. I remember one of my classmates saying that the person selling lunch at school, whom they presumed was Native American based on his appearance, should "be on a horse" instead of selling lunch. While I said something when this "joke" was said, there was no support from the school in terms of discussion or curriculum that explained why these "jokes" were wrong. Another "joke" in HS happened during winter formal my senior year, when my Obama sticker was covered up, and my entire car was covered in post-it notes that spelled out Trump. The occurrence was dismissed as a joke, there was no follow up on why promoting hateful and racist rhetoric Trump uses could be hurtful to a person of mixed racial identity. As a Latina, this experience was incredibly triggering considering Trump's overtly racist language and actions taken against Latinos.” - NPA Student, Class of 2017

  1. “A far too common microaggression I have to deal with is ignorant students, sometimes staff, will say "well, you're Asian so you should be good at math right?" to me, or say "well, you're Asian so ____" as if it were an excuse for them to justify my education, behavior, and thoughts.” - NPA Student, Class of 2015

  1. “NPA teachers and students have laughed and made remarks during class that I only got into an Ivy League school because I was ‘Hispanic.’ There was no understanding that this was a microaggression, and my accomplishments were not even considered as a reason for my college acceptances.” - NPA Student, Class of 2015

  1. “During a discussion on the Holocaust, an NPA teacher pointed out to the class that I would have been sent to the concentration camps because of my ‘negroid features.’ I have family members who died in the Holocaust, so the experience of being examined in front of the class from the perspective of Nazi eugenics was awful. What made matters worse was that the teacher then pointed out that themself and another student were examples of the ‘perfect aryan.’ While I wanted to stand up for myself, I was a shy, 16-year-old girl, mortified that the entire class was staring at my face, dissecting my crooked nose, and deeming it as lesser.”  - NPA Student, Class of 2015

  1. “One of the worst experiences for me was when an NPA teacher dressed up as ‘Super-Redneck’ for Halloween. This term is deeply rooted in racism and oppression. By wearing that costume (and announcing what it was) to each of their classes, it felt like they were condoning (and even endorsing) white supremacy.” - NPA Student, Class of 2015

  1. “During my senior year several of my peers said that I was only accepted to prestigious colleges because I was Latina. These remarks were dismissed as jokes, but I felt like my accomplishments were erased due to my race and gender.” - NPA Student, Class of 2017

  1. “As a white student, I was never personally on the receiving end of any racist or discriminatory remarks. However, I also graduated high school without any perspective on how to be an ally, how racism persists in our society, and how Black Americans have been constantly marginalized through our government, education, and prison systems. The discussion about race in NPA curriculum started and ended with slavery, as if it does not impact every aspect of society today. Students should not have to wait until college or until another Black person dies at the hands of the police to learn about the severity and prevalence of our system, ESPECIALLY given the very white demographic of the school.” - NPA Student, Class of 2018

  1. “I remember being wrong. All the time, I was incorrect about my experience. The teachers and administration put words into my mouth to vilify me, seemingly at least once per semester. My interests were hardly ever explored, or given the chance to be considered; usually the most I was able to express myself was in the comfort of the English department. It baffles me that the administration and teachers (most of which are still working at the school) bullied me so much I actively tried to leave each year. No wonder why the students were so racist and mean; was because the system in place allowed it to exist. We learn this in secondary education courses: that a person with multiple identities only switches in a place they feel safe. It is unfortunate that NPA is a safe place for racism and the systemic silencing of different voices. We were victimized, hardly given a chance. Now I was fortunate and privileged to have parents that championed me and encouraged me to explore my interests, that I had worth. I can't imagine the terror of not having that net to go home to after a long day of abuse at school. What does that do to a child? I ask you: what have you done to your children? To the future of this world? What have you done to them? I remember one teacher especially tried to push off so many negative things onto me, when all I wanted was to be in a play. I remember a teacher’s actively attacking my classmates. I remember an administrator's racist, homophobic, and uncaring remarks. I remember faculty automatically blaming me for bringing peanuts to class when my friend got an allergic reaction, when the white students freely ate whichever foods they desired. I remember another teacher twisting words in my mouth; that they could make inappropriate jokes with the students, but not me. I remember our overly-racist decorations each year we tried to be cultural. I remember a Sikh person was bullied to leave. I remember thinking how lucky they were; that I couldn't join them and save myself. I suffer from the psychological damage NPA has put me through every day: the constant fear I've done something wrong, when I haven't, has increased my anxiety, and has made it difficult to work and interact with the world. My parents gave me a white name; they thought it would help me. But it was just raked through the mud. No attempt at understanding me, or my fellow People of Color, was made. So of course, we were always in the wrong. The lack of care and community at NPA is astounding. It caters to one demographic, and God help you if you aren't in it, for all you'll be met with is silence.” - NPA Student

  1. “During my high school career at NPA I experienced many instances of racism. During my sophomore year, a school dance performance featured a number that included black face. As one of the few African American students at the school, my sibling and I went to speak to an administrator. We felt unsafe. An administrator told us it was just an expressive dance and that they would not be taking action. During my senior year at NPA, during a class discussion, a student told me that racism does not exist. The teacher did not respond to this comment or offer any support and allowed the student to continue to make racist comments. That year I also witnessed a student have a violent outburst, verbally attacking another student in my class arguing that their ancestors built this country and that they do not belong. Neither of these incidents resulted in any action from the school. There was an assembly that implied that NPA did not have crime because there were few minorities. Ethnic studies classes were not offered and the school never truly addressed any type of diversity in any way in my experience. The curriculum NPA offered a specific account of history and avoided deep discussions about institutional racism, the criminal justice system and the psychological impacts of racism. It is a school that offers little to no support or protection for minorities. The environment is hostile and the staff is not willing to stand up for students. This environment has taught students to continue inappropriate behavior. After graduating NPA, a former NPA student commented that I should go back to the fields on an Instagram post. Another student posted a racist tweet about the death of  George Floyd. NPA is not only responsible for allowing racism to thrive in a high school, but for letting it thrive in colleges by failing to address it and looking the other way when it came time to take action. High school is a place that has the opportunity to teach students about race and racism. This education is vital to stop students from continuing racist behavior into their college careers. I never truly felt included or safe the entire time I studied at Northland Preparatory Academy.” - NPA Student, Class of 2017

  1. “I remember during my senior year hearing back about college acceptances. The day I heard back from my dream school, I went to tell one of my favorite teachers that I had been accepted. They influenced my love for the subject I would go on to major in. When I told them, they congratulated me, and then timidly asked if I thought I ‘got in because I was Native.’ Every bit of hard work I had done for four years immediately fell by the wayside because of my race.” - NPA Student, Class of 2015

  1. “Even though I graduated at this point, 10 years ago, I remember distinctly my learning experience in one class. It was made very clear by the teacher saying that the Civil War was an issue of "states rights." While we may have heard that it was due to slavery in the past, the teacher was really trying to drill into us that we should view states rights as the root cause rather than the enslavement of black people. When we learned about the industrial revolution and urbanization, I remember learning about the building of Central Park in NYC as a hallmark of green spaces in urban environments. There was no mention of Seneca Village and the way NYC white city leaders forced thriving black families out of their homes. These are just a couple examples of the numerous ways teaching from a white supremacist lens perpetuated harm and anti-black racism and failed to actually “get students ready for college and help them grow into responsible leaders and citizens.” Teachings on Indigenous people was abysmal.

My personal experiences at NPA come from the perspective from someone who is Chinese and White, but ultimately very white passing. At that time, I was considered to be a "diverse" member of my class. Countless jokes made about me being "yellow" by my peers and friends. Often asked to speak on behalf of Chinese people in the classroom. One experience that stands out was a boy from the sports team I was on started a rumor about the shape of my vagina because I'm half Chinese. The whole boys team was laughing and joking about it. I remember feeling deeply confused and ashamed, but felt I had no recourse and nobody to turn to. So ultimately felt I had to laugh along and be okay being around that guy for the next year.” - NPA Student, Class of 2010

  1. “As a Black individual, I experienced many microaggressions during my time at NPA. However, the most painful and memorable is an incident that happened during my junior year. It was during the unit on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. The “N” word is used several times throughout the book and the teacher had instructed us to skip over the word when reading out-loud during class. During this unit we had a discussion about the use of the “N” word in today’s society and the teacher asked us who should have the right to use the word. Most of my classmates were in favor of no one using the word and argued that if it is such a painful and offensive word, no one should be saying it. I was the only Black student in that class and I spoke up and said that although I personally hate the word and would never use it myself, I was not offended by other Black people choosing to use the word. I tried my best to explain that some people in the Black community have reclaimed the word and derive power out of its oppression. As soon as I said that, multiple people jumped in to disagree with me. As the only black student in that class I felt outnumbered. On the verge of tears, I shared with the class my personal hurt and trauma surrounding the word. I told them that I was called the ‘N’ word by a classmate in middle school (at a different school) and that it was extremely hurtful to me but that I still believed that Black people should be able to use a word. Instead of understanding my experience and empathizing with my pain, they continued to argue that no one, not even Black people, should be able to say the word. Only one friend came up to me after class and told me they were sorry I had that experience.” - NPA Student, Class of 2012

  1. “In high school, at NPA, I remember being compared to the Disney portrayal of Pocahontas in front of the class – because when you look ‘ethnically ambiguous,’ people often assume or pretend you could be any race, or all races. I remember being called ‘the exotic-looking one’ at a choir concert, pretending not to hear when my classmates made a racist joke about Chinese people in the back of the van and then shushed each other because someone knew I was Chinese.

I also remember that I had it easy. That several grades below me, there was a 7th grade (!!!) Sikh student who was bullied into leaving the school. That I had white-passing privilege, and a car I could drive to school, and two parents with professional degrees who could advocate for me and support my mental and emotional well-being. That I never saw the police in my neighborhood.

It wasn’t until I went to college that I learned what a ‘micro-aggression’ is, was taught the language to name my own experiences and how to interrogate my own internalized racist beliefs. I needed this education much earlier at NPA – a school that is significantly whiter and wealthier than its surrounding community despite using its public charter status to claim to be ‘color-blind’ and generally bias-free. NPA’s inaction has caused and will continue to cause active harm to its students unless it changes.” - NPA Student, Class of 2015

  1. "My senior year, a comment was made by a fellow classmate that they were afraid to go to college because they were "afraid to talk to black people." They expressed how nervous they'd be, talking to a Black person, because nearly everyone at NPA was white. A couple other students agreed with them. I was shocked that they or anyone at school would not only feel that way, but express that feeling out loud in class. I was embarrassed for them & confused about how to address it, so I regretfully said nothing. The teacher also failed to address this remark in class or use it as an opportunity to explore why this was a racist comment & completely inappropriate.

The following year, I attended the subsequent class graduation ceremony. A school administrator outed one of the graduates, who was transitioning. Instead of using male pronouns, the administrator used female pronouns & "corrected" themself after having inappropriately using female pronouns several times. This was unfair to the student, who was outed to the entire auditorium, & had to give a speech to the audience with the awkward misappropriation of female pronouns hanging in the air. This administrator was known to this student & his family as being less than supportive & understanding of transgender or non-binary social issues. This student had been using male pronouns for over a year by that point. The administrator's use of female pronouns was not an accident. It was intentional.

Micro-aggressions or overtly discriminatory statements were not unusual at NPA. They spanned a spectrum: racial, ethnic, gendered, socio-economic, intelligence/cognitive. We weren't equipped to identify them or address them constructively. We were young, & these subjects seemed more or less taboo. Just because we recognized there were issues didn't mean we were trained or educated to address those issues. Frequently our teachers failed to address them, either because they knew it would upset parents, or it would upset administrators. I frequently saw teachers assailed by angry parents who pressured administration to silence or remove teachers from the school. To address these insidious issues was to admit that there was a problem, thereby challenging the status quo. Our national rankings & SAT/ACT scores were too important. The administration made it clear they had a reputation to maintain & cultivate. With a decade passing since my time there, I can see & honestly reflect that this problem, be it implicit or explicit, was due to the narrow demographic of "privileged" students (nearly all, including myself, white or white-presenting, cisgendered, straight, & middle to upper-class) admitted & the nearly complete lack of diversity of students, teachers, backgrounds & experiences." - NPA Student, Class of 2010

  1. "When I was in NPA there was a lot of bullying towards Native American kids. I experienced people telling me that natives smelled bad or were just alcoholics. My Navajo niece and nephew actually dropped out of NPA because they said it was ‘a racist school’ and anything they were good at was shot down, but anything they weren’t great at was scrutinized by teachers. I only met a handful of Natives who went to the school, probably because the school doesn’t offer much support to BIPOC and teaches history and English in a mainly Eurocentric way." - NPA Student, Class of 2017

  1. "When I saw and began reading others’ experiences they had at NPA I tried to recall a specific moment when I experienced incidents of bias, racism, and prejudice but I couldn’t recall anything specific because those incidents occurred so often I became numb to them. As a Native American Mexican woman you can’t help but notice you are one of the few at that school. It seems everyone also knew I was one of the few too. Many of my classmates and even closest “friends” would make Native American or Mexican jokes towards me. I received so many little jokes about my race it makes me sad to look back on. I do remember having to leave the classroom because I started crying, people who I thought were my friends took the jokes too far and kept slamming me with them for almost the whole class. I do wonder if the teacher even heard what they were saying and if they did why they didn’t do anything to get them to stop. In a class I remember writing a personal essay and I wasn’t allowed to use the language I use to identify myself as a brown woman. It felt like the teacher was telling me what I can call myself. I used that language in the essay because it was the truth, it was reality and it didn’t need to be taken out because it made that teacher uncomfortable. I’m very excited to see this letter occurring to help better NPA. I know how few diverse students there are at that school. I know how it feels to be the minority. I know the pressure you feel to exceed in school so you don’t feel like the dumb brown kid everyone presumes you are. I know how little confidence I had walking those hallways because of the color of my skin. At NPA there are no clubs for diverse groups. There aren’t even Native American or Hispanic convocations for students to receive their designated stashes like FHS & Coco. It would be great to see clubs and convocations. It would also be great to have students/ staff to learn about race, racism, and everything else to become a well rounded person. To survive at a school like NPA I had to embrace my ethnicity I had to make my own Pocahontas and Beaner jokes so it hurt less. I hope future students with a ethnic background do not have to endure the same incidents of bias, racism, prejudice. I do hope they can just be a student without carrying the weight of being someone who is diverse. NPA can do better to welcome students with diverse backgrounds and make them feel included." - NPA Student, Class of 2016

  1. "One time during a basketball game, 2 middle school students were sitting behind me and said, ‘I told a teacher they should dress up as an oven for Halloween, because they’re Jewish! Haha get it?’ And I quickly turned around and explained to them that what they said was anti-Semitic, and this joke was not ok. Hearing this ‘joke’ was really upsetting and wildly inappropriate." - NPA Student, Class of 2021

  1. "I experienced racism and prejudice in through my entire time at Northland Prep. Some of the instances that happens to me through my school career was when the students were to take a citizenship test, given that I am from a Latinx and immigrant family the student said "you're going to fail the citizenship test because you're Mexican" I didn't say anything then because I knew if I did I would get in trouble rather than her. That same student went on throughout my entire senior year talking about how immigrants are problems in America and how all immigrants deserve to be deported because they're taking jobs away that she can have. Another incident was when a white student went to me during our class and told everybody that they and their friend are "black people born in white people's bodies". Another instance was when we were walking on our way to class and some classmate came to me and said that everything Trump says about immigrants is right. I didn't say anything because I knew I would get in trouble with the faculty. Another incident was when I was talking with a faculty member and talked about how the school likes diversity and they decided to say "minorities have less money thus they can't afford the school". Another instance was when a faculty member decided to talk about being a good citizen and made a sexist remark towards women saying that they're not allowed to use profanity and they also said that "if we have more minority students we would have to lock our lockers". After that assembly I went to talk to one of the administrators and another administrator heard what I said and how I felt about it and they said "that I was wrong and that you people need to stop assuming things about others.” Another instance happened was when a white student and I had an argument about how racism affects individuals and they said " that racism doesn't exist because he grew up poor and he struggled too." If they were educated on race they would understand that racism isn't purely economic. Another instance was during a class, one of the instructors was talking about citizenship and how one of our students was trying to become a citizen. After they said that every single one of the students looked directly at me and assumed I was a student trying to get citizenship. I felt ashamed because not only am I a natural born citizen but it's showing how every single one of those students, even my friends, thought that I was undocumented and didn't have citizenship or the right to be in that class, let alone in the United States. All those statements came from one single year at NPA and there are more incidents that happened throughout the whole time my family and I spent at that school." - NPA Student, Class of 2017

  1. “As a Native American woman from a working class background, I consistently felt invisible during my time at NPA. Indigenous history and experiences were largely ignored in the curriculum and I constantly faced microaggressions from both the faculty and student body. There were jokes casually said about Native Americans being "dumb" or "poor" or "drunks." Flagstaff is a diverse town but NPA's student body or faculty never reflected that. I faced overwhelming pressure to act "white" and blend in as much as possible. NPA never provided a space where I felt I could flourish. Instead, I was too scared to show who I really was and too nervous to share my experiences and knowledge in the classroom.” - NPA Student, Class of 2014

  1. “My friends from other schools would frequently say I attended "No Pigment Allowed" and sadly they were right. There were only a handful of POC in the whole school during the time I attended.” - NPA Student

  1. “Sadly in my experience the racism I received was from an administrator at that time. In middle school I was messing around with a couple friends. The administrator came out and yelled at the three of us and told us to go to their office. The three of us weren’t allowed to wait with each other, so they separated us. The administrator placed my two caucasian friends in two different offices and made me a Hispanic wait in the lobby because they “couldn’t trust me not to steal anything from their office”. The reason we got pulled aside was for playing monkey in the middle with our friend’s bag who was in on it. Sadly it didn’t stop there, throughout my entire time at NPA I was the victim to this administrator making racists remarks towards me. There was one incident where I told a student I no longer wanted to be friends with them because of how they were treating me. The student went to this administrator, and I was then called into the office. The administrator said that I couldn’t be mean like that and that they couldn’t have a student like that. They called my parents and tried expelling me simply because I didn’t want to be friends with someone and told them to their face. One that I vividly remember is around graduation time this administrator said they were glad “I Cleaned up my act” and insinuated that they were surprised to see me graduate. For a background I was a good student, with good grades, an athlete, and a dancer my entire time at NPA. So many different occasions happened through my time at NPA where this person made me feel bad for being Hispanic and insinuated that all the problems that I got in were due to my Hispanic background. The sad part was that a white student could do the same exact thing as I did yet I would be punished and even threaten to be expelled/suspended and they wouldn’t. There was also racism I revived from my classmates but nothing stuck with me as much as the one I revived from an adult as I was a teen.” - NPA Student, Class of 2015

  1. “I attended NPA from 2010-2016 and can attest to the subtle or blatant racist remarks and jokes made by faculty and other students in relation to students who weren’t white. NPA seemingly encourages students of color or various backgrounds to disregard their cultures and heritage in exchange of acting “white” in order to appear more successful. I remember being forced to attend a multitude of assemblies where the faculty emphasized its drive to look better than other schools by achieving higher scores on the AIMS, ACT, and SAT tests. While NPA is a predominantly white school I found it odd that the administration would want to appear “more intelligent” or “superior” than neighboring schools of more diversity. I felt this was almost inferring that NPA was able to achieve higher scores because of its lack of diversity? Instead of forcing high school students into assemblies with seemingly no direction, NPA should take that time to focus on diversity training to all faculty, and acceptance of all cultures and races.” - NPA Student, Class of 2016

  1. “Firstly, I am appalled to read all the testimonials recalling absolutely abhorrent instances of racism and bias. That is not the NPA I thought I knew, and after reading them, I too can recall events that raised a red flag back in my cohort. One thing that stands out to me is how easily students of color, or of varying degrees of neurotypicality or not became targets. Because of how white the school is anyway, it only became all too obvious when a student of color was getting singled out. This happened in Holocaust lectures, slavery lectures, and in basic classroom management. All the while, the school seemingly thriving on how successfully they could pit us against each other with test scores, college acceptance/scholarship awards, etc. It was all about who made the school “look good” while discounting anyone who didn’t fit that mold. My sibling, who also went to the school, is not neurotypical and required some adaptations (that even with a diagnosis-the school hardly obliged by) and I can recall some truly hideous names/curse words that my sibling was called by people who were supposed to be their guides and teachers. So if it’s not clear by now, I would certainly hope that NPA opens its eyes to their utter lack of diversity and racial sensitivity, but also to the mental health challenges faced by all. Do better or lose students to more accepting places.” - NPA Student, Class of 2013

  1. “When I attended NPA, there were many times when fellow classmates would make comments or jokes about my racial heritage. In 7th grade, someone told me that they would not want to be friends with me because they were scared that I or someone in my family would eat their dog, because "that's what Asians do". There were times where I have had white classmates comment on my biracial background, either telling me that that I am not allowed to consider myself an Asian American and I can only be considered a really tan white girl, or that my half Asian side does not even "count" because the Asian country that my family comes from is an island and is not physically attached to the Asian continent. Whenever someone made a racist or ignorant comment like that at me, I never fought back or tried to say anything because I knew no one cared. I knew that if I said anything back or tried to fight it, that I would be pinned as being too dramatic or that I couldn't take a joke. Even though those comments would get under my skin, over time I had to learn to either take it and try to move on, or to try to laugh along with everyone else. The micro-aggressive and ignorant behavior that took place at NPA harbored a toxic environment, and it all stemmed from the lack of diversity and the acceptance of other cultures. NPA has grown immensely since I have graduated, and it's time for the culture to grow as well towards a more open and diverse community.” -NPA Student, Class of 2014

  1. "Being a student at NPA as someone with a mixed ancestral background, it was always clear that I was “one of the few”. Because of the lack of POC students and faculty during my 6 years at NPA, there were constantly jokes regarding my Spanish last name and my skin color. Like many do when teased and ridiculed, I embraced the jokes that teachers and students would say, branding myself as “the brown boy”. It became a popular joke between students and staff that when I experienced something positive or negative, it was “because you’re brown”. These persistent comments became normal. It was normal for me and other BIPOC students to joke with each other about our backgrounds, because everyone else would do it anyway. These defense mechanisms are inherently harmful and perpetuated when figures of authority (teachers, parents, coaches, and administrators) pass them off as harmless or actively partake in the “joke”.  These experiences do not disappear in the moment. Microaggressions against BIPOC or other minority groups create life-long pain and complexes that recreate the inferiority we already feel living in a society that functions and profits on white supremacy. Creating a more inclusive, antiracist culture at NPA does not start with the students. It starts with administration. During my 6 years at NPA, I never had a Black teacher, I never had a Native American teacher. Thankfully, I became close with my Spanish teachers, both of whom are of Mexican decent. They were truly the only people in my experience that gave me what felt like a safe space. Not only through their education of Spanish language and the history of Mexican-Americans, but also feeling that they were looking out for me, feeling that I had them in my corner.  The culture problems at NPA do not fail students based on their lack of an antiracist agenda." - NPA Student, Class of 2011

  1. "Although I’ve generally tried to forget my experiences within the NPA culture, I wanted to share just a few thoughts about the racist, ableist culture that was allowed to permeate NPA. As an Asian American, I had almost no Asian peers or teacher-mentors at NPA. I felt ashamed of my race and tried to assimilate myself into the predominately white culture, unsuccessfully. I didn’t realize the harm that was done until college. NPA needs not only to change its policies to be more inclusive of minority students but also to recruit minority teachers who can serve as mentors to students.

As a person with a disability, I recall TOO MANY times when people made jokes about my disability by both faculty and students. I laughed along at the time, but now I know that this is unacceptable.

Additionally, when I became a citizen, in the same year that a white classmate became a citizen, the school awarded the white classmate with a flag at a ceremony and I was forgotten until I spoke up."- NPA Student, Class of 2013

  1. "Several incidents of racial antipathy occurred during the time my children attended NPA--too often to be dismissed as ""one-off"" occurrences. The generally oppressive racial climate falls into three categories: 1) racist, demeaning "jokes" that were routinely shared and dismissed as simple ignorance: My child was told: "I have many blacks in my family--they're hanging from trees"--the same classmate called another Black NPA student a N**GER, and got into a fight. The student was seeking attention through this behavior, and - though their parents were clearly upset, ashamed and disappointed in their child - they were at a loss about what to do. The school administration suggested that the Black parents of the aggrieved kids show a film and give a lecture on stereotypes. We suggested the entire school, faculty, students and staff, needed training and cross-cultural programming on an ongoing basis, as well as cross-city exchanges with kids who attended other schools--not just showing a film during Black History month. The hallways, gym and campus grounds are hotbeds of insensitivity, mean-spirited behavior, and hate-speech against Blacks, Indigenous, Asians, Mexicans, and Jews--mostly. My daughter says racist 'jokes' and pranks were routine happenings that reflected an oppressive atmosphere of prejudice and ignorance--occurring right under the noses of teachers and administration;

2) microaggressions and anti-social behavior--cliques and exclusionary actions--were rampant; name-calling was commonly accepted, or passed off as "rude humor--everybody does it!";  

3) limited culturally-responsive pedagogy--the coursework is still heavily skewed towards white-dominant norms, with little instruction on how multicultural knowledge practices are, in fact, far more ""normative' than "Western European" cultures. Yet the curriculum and the faculty do not reflect these norms.  

My child had several supportive and empathetic teachers who were exemplary; and there are accomplished staff members and counselors who are outstanding--but the racist climate is deep and profound, and needs far more than a few faculty and dedicated students to change it--it takes a movement and incentives to address the problem as being systemic, and to confront it within the city and region. (2016-2019)" - Family Member of NPA Student or Alum

  1. "My experience wasn’t the best. I suffered with mental health and I don’t think it was handled well." - NPA Student or Alum

  1. "I have experienced multiple cases of racism. Multiple times in front of teachers and them not saying anything but letting it slide and continuing on with the lesson as normal. My ethnicity and my culture being made fun of no one to defend me but myself. Being told to stay away because I have COVID, that as an Asian I SHOULD be smart. That as an Asian do I stretch out my eyes to seem more “American” all the while the teachers did not give a damn." - NPA Student, Class of 2021

  1. "My experiences with racism at NPA are too many to recount and extend well past the time that I graduated but I wish to share some instances that still stand out in my memory. I am biracial and had a very diverse upbringing so I was very struck by how white my class was when I arrived at NPA. I was tracked into honors and then AP courses, where the few POC students who attended were weeded out to just 3 POC peers who followed me through my 4 years of AP. I was a mediocre AP student- I got good test scores but rarely turned in classwork- but despite my attitude I continued to be recommended for AP courses. In retrospect I can only attribute this to the fact that I am very white passing, considering the ways in which my POC peers were gate-kept from AP classes. I expected to have exhaustive courses that I only learned later in college were not nearly as revisionist as I was led to believe and excluded weeks worth of important perspectives- for example, we never learned about Juneteenth in history, the true nature of the founding fathers’ enslavement practices, the 13th amendment, etc. In these classes I recall many instances of teachers singling out my POC classmates to ridicule them. One of my Asian classmates in particular was a source of many jokes amidst my classmates and my teachers both to their face and behind their back when they were not in class. I also recall POC who were not in my AP courses but were in my class routinely bullied while teachers turned a blind eye- specifically one student in SPED who was openly taunted almost every day. I know teachers knew but nobody really did anything about it. When I graduated I heard horror stories from a teacher who started teaching at NPA later on. I knew their child for a period of time. We eventually fell out over my own privileged oversights to their experience as a minority, but I was acquainted with this teacher long enough to hear about their experience in the classroom- they had students openly passing around hate speech, and received disrespect from these students parents that (in my opinion) sounded to be repeatedly dismissed and was not properly handled by admin. I also learned that after my graduation the Spanish teacher who had taught at NPA for many years and was uniquely qualified, was passed for a position that admin gave to a white teacher who did not speak Spanish as a first language. The staff is mostly white, the student body is mostly white and wealthy. I want to see NPA properly investigated and the current admin fired for these oversights." - NPA Student, Class of 2013

  1. "As someone of mixed race, many times I have been told I am blessed to have a white face. I do not look even remotely Latina thanks to one of my parents strong English complexion and therefore I have been spared a lot of the cruelty that other students have written about. My "white face" has been commented on by many of those who found out at NPA that I came from an immigrant and dirt poor families--one of which were an illegal immigrant for a time. They usually tell me that I'm lucky to look white, or they like to call me a Latin girl. The moment people learned I got the National Hispanic Scholar they told me I was lucky to "have brown" because they had to work harder to get into college than I did, as if I didn't work hard. Although, because my complexion is white, I am heavily exposed to the racist comments and "jokes" that other white students make--they feel safe making it around fellow white students. I've heard everything from people saying that Mexican men are a threat to women to how those on the Cherokee nation deserve the extreme poverty they live in. I've heard students deny that the holocaust even happened. I've seen friends who were a part of the Jewish community be viciously attacked, one even told that they should have died in the concentration camps. I heard students attack a teacher for their non-Christian religious beliefs, calling them a "Christian hater." People feel free to make these jokes around me and therefore I can say with full confidence that NPA is full of racists. While I am spared from people attacking my background, I cannot fathom what it is like to be told the things I have only overheard." - NPA Student, Class of 2021

  1. "If I learned anything during my time at NPA, it was to be ashamed of who I was. If I participated in class, got good grades, or was academically competitive I was labeled a stereotypical Asian kid by my peers, and some of the teachers and administrators appeared to share this view as well. If I behaved in ways that did not conform to these stereotypes, however, the reaction was even worse. I was told by school administrators (despite the fact that I was not in violation of any dress code regulations) that my attire reflected "a very angry young woman", and I was routinely slut-shamed by my classmates. There was no way to exist for me at that school as a brown girl- I tried to be like my white classmates, but I remained an outsider. I tried to outperform them, hoping to earn their respect, but all I earned was their anger if I did. And the whole time, the school administration not only turned a blind eye to that, but they turned it back around in such a way that they made it seem as though the relentless bullying was a situation of my own making, and one that could be remedied if only I would conform." - Community Member

  1. “My first year at NPA was in 2010, I was going into 7th grade and I ended up leaving after BARELY completing my freshman year. I was completely drained of not receiving the same help and education as the white students. I am a Navajo woman, I am also half white.  Although my features are predominately white  I was raised to be proud of my culture, I was educated by my mother that we as Navajo people are strong, brave and can overcome any obstacle.  During my first year at NPA I had very long hair. During  art class a girl walked behind me "pretending" to cut my hair. It wasn't until I got home from school that I noticed that she actually cut some of my hair. In Navajo culture hair is sacred, hair is your knowledge and strength. Throughout my  three years at NPA students, teachers and other faculty didn't believe that I was Navajo, again because of my features. They would then say "Let me guess what you really are." and list multiple races, it always made me uncomfortable that they wanted to place me with a race that made them more comfortable to be around. After leaving NPA to attend Coconino High school my attitude about school changed, I was able to find groups of friends and culture clubs that NPA did not provide for students of color. I was finally accepted and experiencing an ACTUAL school with diversity. My grades improved and so did my future. I am proud of who I am.” - Community Member 

  1. “At my time at NPA I was constantly berated by faculty, teachers and students. I’m Half Navajo and White. And I grew up surrounded by both aspects of my heritage. Which means I seemed “more white-washed” than other Native kids. I was home schooled before I went to NPA and I was shell shocked in my first year. I was a good student with good grades and I was an overachiever. The social norms were different than what I was used to. And in the past years I’ve been going there I’ve picked up on them. I’ve talked about school to some of my friends at different schools and I was kind of confused when I learned about their social norms. They didn’t have their sixth grade reading teacher have them take a picture with the only person of their race in class, they didn’t have their “friends” say that they had a teepee in their pants, they didn’t have their principle call them into the office accusing them of vandalism because “they looked the most suspicious”. These social norms at NPA were actually deep rooted racism and microaggressions. I was so used to my family members and my race being called drunks and lowlives that it didn’t faze me. The 7th grader printing out a picture of Sacajawea’s son and saying that that was me was not saying that as a joke. NPA and it’s admin found that okay. The backhanded comments got so bad that I had severe anxiety, I lost 15 lbs and I was about to transfer schools. I want the ignorance and the systemic injustices of racism at NPA to end.” - NPA Student, Class of 2024

  1. “As a student with a disability, I encountered several difficulties going to NPA. I suffered bullying from various students and unequal treatment from the NPA staff, compared to "regular students." My 5 years at NPA were nothing compared to my little sibling who only spent one year at NPA. Although we are related, they have darker skin than I, they were prosecuted by an administrator, making them leave NPA. Because they were darker, they were treated less equally than  I was. The current administrator stated "I lived in [state], I know what it is like being a minority." That was their response to being called racist. As the administrator was white, it is hard to say they are a minority in any state in the United States. my sibling, instead of getting detention and a conversation with an administrator got a restraining order, which led to them feeling unwelcome at NPA and they were forced to leave. I feel that the NPA administration is prejudiced against darker skinned children, the perfect example is how me and my sibiling share parents, upbringing, and overall background, yet someone with a disability can graduate and a darker sibling only can last one year before the law shoves them out. I find that despicable.” - NPA Student, Class of 2015

  1. “As a parent of NPA alumni, I write to share our family’s experience. Though the religious discrimination experienced by our family at NPA in no way rises to the level of mistreatment that BIPOC have experienced, it still was hurtful, stressful, and discriminatory.

1. My children mentioned experiencing “teasing” during their time at NPA revolving around our Jewish religion. They led me to believe it was minor “teasing” that they had to laugh off because making a big deal about it would lead to worse bullying. And it occurred within the hearing of NPA employees who did not address it. But it was not at all minor; it was nasty and demeaning discrimination, the kind that damages self-esteem. As someone with (admittedly distant) family members who perished in the Holocaust, we found this discrimination to be repugnant and hateful.

2. Despite NPA stating that they had a “closed campus”, the administration regularly allowed outside non-student representatives from Young Life to bring in pizza and eat lunch with NPA students. Young Life is a Christian group whose stated mission is “Introducing adolescents to Jesus Christ and helping them grow in their faith.” One of my children was subjected to the advances of these outside recruiters on the campus of what is supposed to be a secular school. My protests went unaddressed.

3. An administrator publicly advocated for a partnership with Flagstaff Christian Fellowship to build a church on the corner of Soliere and 4th Street, and share parking and also potentially gym and other facilities with NPA. When those of us who felt threatened by the discrimination that could result from the encroachment of religion into the school spoke out at Governing Board meetings, we were attacked and belittled. There was an obvious effort to prevent any of us from serving on the Board to represent a non-Christian or Atheistic perspective. Eventually the deal fell through.” - Family Member of NPA Student or Alum

  1. “At NPA I was used to being the only Native American in class, most of the time, the only ethnic. In some of my classes it was obvious I was being treated differently. In one class, I saw a huge difference in the way I was being treated. My class would always disrupt the teacher, pretend to leave the class and come back in, call the teacher names, joke, yell and scream. I was one of the quiet ones, I only spoke if I had a question I only had one other friend in that class but we sat apart so I never talked. I was told I need to ask more questions, so I did, but whenever I raised my hand to ask some questions I was told, “You won’t need to know this” and  “Ask this other student for help”. I was never able to get the help I needed. After asking my question the teacher would sigh and roll their eyes, after other students would ask questions for help on homework, the teacher would pull up a chair, offer assistance after school and sit there until they understand. The teacher would also ask me to “come in after school” on one question I asked in class even though I had told them I had extracurriculars after school. I was the only Native in that class and I don’t believe I was being treated as fairly or equally as everyone else in my class.” - NPA Student, Class of 2022
  2. “My teacher got in trouble because he didn’t stop me from defending myself against a racist in class.” - NPA Student, Class of 2021