Colin Hogan is Head of School at the Learning Community Charter School in Jersey City, one of seven schools in the state to receive the New Jersey Department of Education Lighthouse Award in 2021 for increasing diversity in their teacher workforce. This first appeared at nj.com.

I am proud to represent a school that is reflective of our community and I’m exceptionally proud to be the principal of one of the most diverse schools in Jersey City. Seeing that April is Diversity Month, I’d like to take some time to recognize the cultures and backgrounds that make up our student body and staff.

LCCS started out as a small institution inside of the Boys & Girls Club. We have now expanded to serve 640 students. Centered in the heart of Jersey City and home to more than 600 students, about 70% of our 639 students are from minority groups, and roughly 29 languages are spoken at home. About 35% of our students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and, similarly, about 30% of students receive free or reduced lunch. In all, 72% of our students and 45% of our staff come from a minority background.

The Learning Community Charter School, in Jersey City’s West Side district, is as diverse as its surrounding neighborhood.

LCCS started out as a small institution inside of the Boys & Girls Club. We have now expanded to serve 640 students. Centered in the heart of Jersey City and home to more than 600 students, about 70% of our 639 students are from minority groups, and roughly 29 languages are spoken at home. About 35% of our students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and, similarly, about 30% of students receive free or reduced lunch. In all, 72% of our students and 45% of our staff come from a minority background.

Public charter schools have become another option for disadvantaged families who want educational options for their children. They are free, which most people don’t know.

Because we have such a diverse student body, our school implements five objectives in the Diversity Domain that we encourage all staff to become familiar with:

1. Students can express comfort with people who are both similar to and different from them and engage respectfully with all people.
2. Students can develop language and knowledge to accurately and respectfully describe how people (including themselves) are both similar to and different from each other and others in their identity groups.
3. Students can respectfully express curiosity about the history and live experiences of others and can exchange ideas and beliefs in an open-minded way.
4. Students can respond to diversity by building empathy, respect, understanding and connection.
5. Students can examine diversity in social, cultural, political and historical contexts rather than in ways that are superficial or oversimplified.

Why should we care whether the teaching force reflects the demographics of the student body?

For students looking for clear, cultural diversity in the classroom and role models in their school, having a teacher from the same background can lead to deeper connections and more engaged learning. It makes perfect sense.

Assistant Professor Travis Bristol from University of California, Berkeley’s Graduate School of Education stated, “There’s a growing body of research on the qualitative end that suggests that teachers of color actually understand the lived experiences of their students of color better, because they have lived them — or similar ones — themselves.”

How old were you when you experienced having a teacher of color? How did it make an impact on your education?

Those are questions we should ask ourselves.

The diversity of our teachers and staff helps us understand our students’ circumstances and who they are in order to make a greater connection with them. This includes speaking their native language, living in their communities, sharing culture and lived experiences.

We’ve also built a RISE (Representing Inclusivity and Soaring for Equity) library, created by our BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) leadership chair. Ongoing classroom engagement includes issues of current racial and social justice issues. We are now starting affinity groups for faculty and students that share similar diversity at schools which are very important. The Learning Community Charter school is leading the charge in reshaping how students learn, with diversity in mind. We continue to welcome, support, and nurture outstanding educators mirroring the diversity of our wonderful students. As we continue on this journey, it is my deep hope that our work together as a faculty will, in the words of education scholar Dr. Bettina Love, eradicate injustice in and outside of a classroom.