Weather Delays, Belonging Doesn’t by SCH's Director of DEIB

In a recent reflection on his professional development speaking engagements, DEIB Director Maxime Sinal highlights SCH’s deep-seated commitment to inclusive excellence.

By Maxime Sinal
Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

January had plans.
Then winter had opinions.

From January 26–28, The Glasgow Group launched its inaugural Roots to Routes: A Call Forward conference at the Philadelphia Marriott. After more than nine years of working alongside Dr. Rodney Glasgow through NAIS SDLC, this gathering marked both continuity and forward motion, especially as familiar spaces pause and reimagine what comes next.

A snowstorm slowed us down, but it did not stop the work.

By the close of the conference, nearly 500 participants joined in person, with many others engaging virtually through sessions intentionally designed to ensure learning, connection, and momentum continued. Behind the scenes, I supported planning and facilitation. In the room, I had the opportunity to present twice, each time grounded in collaboration, care, and shared purpose.

On Monday, January 26, I co-facilitated I Said What I Said: Centering the Unseen in School Life with Jaimée Nelson, our Lower School administrative assistant. The session centered the often invisible labor of non-teaching and student-support staff, inviting participants to examine how everyday care, emotional labor, and relational work sustain school communities. Together, we explored how schools can more intentionally recognize, value, and sustain every adult who shows up for students, regardless of role or title.

On Tuesday, January 27, I co-facilitated Not Just a Numbers Game: Love, Belonging, and Power in Enrollment with Shamika Thompson, Director of Enrollment Management at Key School. Rooted in a decade-long friendship and shared professional experience, the session challenged schools to move beyond siloed approaches and to reimagine enrollment as an act of care and partnership. Participants reflected on how belonging must shape the entire enrollment journey, from first inquiry through retention, if schools hope to build trust and long-term connection with families.

Closer to home, I also facilitated an adult workshop at the 11th annual SCHout Conference titled "Reimagining the Constellation: Belonging in Practice." Building on our theme, Constellation of Us: Rise, Resist, Reach for the Stars, the session framed belonging as both daily practice and collective leadership, focusing on how small, intentional moments across classrooms, offices, and shared spaces strengthen equity and connection.

Next up, I will be presenting at the 17th Annual National Partnership for Educational Access Conference in Atlanta, April 15–17, 2026. My session, It Was All a Dream: Reframing Belonging Beyond DEI, invites educators and access leaders to move beyond language and initiatives and toward sustained structures of care, accountability, and access that make belonging real for students and families.

Taken together, these spaces reflect the heart of my work: building systems where belonging is not symbolic, collaboration is not optional, and care is sustained even when conditions are challenging. 

Finally, this work is grounded in my ongoing research on the experiences of Black educators in independent schools, with a particular focus on how systems of care, power, and belonging are enacted or withheld in daily practice. While the research centers Black teachers, the insights extend to understanding how schools support or marginalize people across roles, identities, and lived experiences. Patterns such as misalignment between mission and practice, the impact of microaggressions, and the need for relational and structural support surface across communities, not in isolation. The sessions I facilitate translate this research into practice by treating belonging not as a single-identity concern, but as a shared, systemic responsibility.