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Our Mission, Vision & Values
Our Mission
- Our community nurtures lifelong learners from around the world.
- Our educators inspire young people to think boldly and find their voices.
- Our students support each other and explore thoughtfully as they shape the future.
Vision & Values
On September 25, 1918, The Kew-Forest School opened its doors to local youth from kindergarten through high school. Its stated mission was “to exert all its energies, to use every means at its command…to make every child an efficient worker, a helpful citizen, and a power for good.” In the 100+ years since then, Kew-Forest has remained true to its mission and, following in the impressive work of generations before us, the Kew-Forest Board of Trustees, School leadership, faculty, staff, alumni, and parents aim to inspire students for the next 100 years.
Unlocking potential
through care and creativity
Students, parents, and alumni consistently praise Kew-Forest for its small nurturing community that feels like a second home. They credit the care, creativity, and dedication of our teachers for fostering within our students a strong sense of self, respect for others, and the tools required to unlock personal academic and creative interests well beyond high school. Students and alumni cite teachers or experiences that changed their lives. We also hear how prepared Kew-Forest graduates feel when they arrive at college, and how the School’s core values of hard work, integrity, and respect for differences has helped them succeed in the workforce. Kew-Forest relationships - between graduates but also between alumni and faculty - endure and strengthen over decades.
The question we consistently ask ourselves is, “How can we best serve our students at a time when the world is advancing at a stunning pace, especially in science and technology; when we understand how social, emotional, and physical safety at school impacts learning and belonging; when climate change is disrupting the environment and creating an uncertain future; and when social, political, and cultural norms are evolving in unexpected and consequential ways?”. In a world such as ours, what must Kew-Forest do to prepare students for a world that we can only imagine?
Diversity is who we are, equity and justice are what we value, inclusion is what we practice, and belonging is the end result.
DEJIB Statement
Embracing Diversity at Kew-Forest
While we are fortunate to represent the diversity of Queens, we know that the presence of diversity does not automatically nurture and support it. As an International Baccalaureate candidate school*, our commitment to intercultural learning with an emphasis on collaboration, agency, and inquiry ensures our students develop into leaders and community members who are a force for good in the world. Our Diversity, Equity, Justice, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEJIB) Statement outlines the ways Kew-Forest embraces and supports each member of our community.
Diversity
The Kew-Forest School, located in a borough of immigrants, is one of the most culturally diverse of any independent school in the country. We celebrate and affirm the various identities of our community, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, culture, nationality, language, religion, gender, socio-economic status, ability, family structure, sexual orientation, size, and age.
Equity and Justice
Given the diverse environment at Kew-Forest, our educators believe that they have a heightened responsibility to continuously work towards equity and justice. Equity encompasses the responsibility of the institution to ensure that every student has the resources they need to participate, achieve, and succeed. Justice requires us to go further and challenge the structures that give rise to inequity. We aim to realize equity and enact justice in our community through intentional efforts including but not limited to hiring practices, development of representative curriculum, programmatic offerings, and professional development requirements for our faculty and staff. We are committed to learning and growing, holding ourselves personally and collectively responsible to our principles, and engaging in continuous self-reflection and conversation.
Inclusion and Belonging
The structures of equity and justice at Kew-Forest aim to create an affirming and inclusive environment and promote a sense of belonging that is foundational to student success. All students deserve to be their whole, unique, authentic selves—courageously and unapologetically. Our students have the agency to build their own spaces of belonging, by curating their academic and extracurricular experiences. Students learn to see faculty and staff as allies and advocates. They learn to reject any form of bias, intolerance, and discrimination and seek ways to address biases within themselves and the community. With the affirmation that comes from the authorship of their own Kew-Forest experience, students know they belong here and develop the confidence necessary to thrive and contribute outside of K-F’s doors.
*The Kew-Forest School is a candidate school* for the MYP. This school is pursuing authorization as an IB World School. IB World Schools share a common philosophy- a commitment to high-quality, challenging, international education- that we believe is important for our students.
*Only schools authorized by the IB Organization can offer any of its four academic programmes: the Primary Years Programme (PYP), the Middle Years Programme (MYP), the Diploma Programme (DP), or the Career-related Programme (CP). Candidate status gives no guarantee that authorization will be granted.
For further information about the IB and its programmes visit International Education.
