A group of concerned parents met with Sewickley Academy representatives Friday to discuss the school’s direction with its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice plan.

The parents met with two faculty members; three school board members, including the president; and interim Head of School Ashley Birtwell.

The meeting follows a series of events involving changes within the school’s leadership and two groups of parents emerging to voice their concerns about the school’s curriculum.

As Friday’s meeting was happening, two alumni, Caroline Cox and Jill Pollon, were across the street from the building holding up signs in support of the parent group. Their signs said, “Diversity make us stronger” and “We support DEISJ.”

“We wanted to show them they’re not alone and us as recent alumni, we still care about the school,” Pollon said.

During the three-hour meeting, Karissa Jackson, a Black parent with two daughters attending the school, said they were able to voice their concerns to administration about the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice plan, recent firings and a June 1 letter sent by the Sewickley Parents Organization critical of the plan.

“They (school officials) said they are in full support of the plan and stand behind and are committed to implementing all the objectives in the plan,” Jackson said.

Jackson said the group asked the board to make a public announcement about moving forward with the plan — a plan she said was approved in May — but the group was not given an a time frame of the announcement.

Following the meeting, the group wants to see the board follow through on its promise.

“We want to them to prove and show to us that the recent happenings over these last couple of months had nothing to do with that parent letter, and had nothing to do with the school’s commitment to DEISJ, and it just happened to be a coincidence,” Jackson said.

The meeting did not change their perception of everything that has happened as Jackson said there is still work to be done.

The group would like to see the school denounce the Sewickley Parents Organization and its letter and put out a statement saying the school is in full support of the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice plan.

“There is trust to be built, there is work to be done, and that trust can only be built by actions,” she said.

Dominic Odom, another Black Sewickley Academy parent, said she would like to see training on-site to ensure the staff is comfortable with implementing the DEISJ plan and the school denounce the Sewickley Parent Organization whose letter she felt was full of animosity and “Black-directed.”

“This will not stop if the board and the leadership does not step up to suppress it,” Odom said.

The Sewickley Parent Organization sent out a letter Wednesday clarifying their mission and stance.

“Our mission is intended to facilitate a safe, supportive campus environment where each student can be their authentic self. We intend to collaborate with Dr. Birtwell and the Board to ensure that the Academy is a welcoming, inviting place for all students of all backgrounds in our campus community,” the statement said.

Birtwell said the school listened to the parents’ concerns and specific experiences of their children at Sewickley Academy over the years.

“We value their willingness to engage with us in a safe place and to be vulnerable,” Birtwell said. “We are looking forward to further conversations with them and all members of our community to be the best we can be moving forward.”

Birtwell also emphasized earlier that the Sewickley Parent Organization does not have any influence on the school’s decisions.

The concerned parent group plans to follow up with the Academy after a few weeks when the school year starts to plan future meetings to get an idea of the culture and climate within the school.

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