Plural Commons is Greenhill School’s fresh approach to an inclusive community that was officially launched in September 2021.

The spirit of Plural Commons is that every person has a place in the community, and our being present with one another can contribute to both a common and greater good.

“Essentially, Plural Commons invites people to build authentic relationships – with people, ideas, perspectives, and more – and be open to the worthy surprises that will emerge along the journey,” said Director of Equity and Inclusion Marcus Ingram.

Plural Commons programming this school year is focused on listening to build relationships. One initiative is using a common text A Search for Common Ground: Conversations About the Toughest Questions in K-12 Education by Rick Hess and Pedro Noguera to invite Greenhill families, employees, and the Board into a genuine conversation about challenging topics and inspire relationship building, even across differences.

Opportunities to discuss content from the book will happen throughout the school year, and akin to the format of the book. Interested adults in our community have been paired with a letter-writing partner to build a new relationship. The first book discussion for employees occurred on Nov. 3 and included prompts about content from parts of the book as well as Greenhill-specific topics.

“Families have been invited to two book discussion opportunities on Nov. 9,” Ingram said, “A virtual lunch gathering midday and an in-person discussion in the evening.”

Both events will use a similar format to the employee gathering where the experience is framed by a couple of general reflections and the bulk of the time is spent in small group conversation sparked by prompts and questions.