Inclusive Schools Week

Welcome to the Home of Inclusive Schools Week 2025! Link to this section

On this page you will find amazing resources to support your school in celebrating Inclusive Schools Week in December and to strengthen your commitment to inclusion all year long. This year's theme of Children First: Building a Stronger Tomorrow aligns with with our SFUSD value of Student-Centered, at the district level and across school sites.

Inclusive Schools Week is like a giant IEP meeting for our schools and our district. It is a time to assess the progress we have made and then set goals to increase inclusion efforts at your school.

Highlighted Event: Student Inclusion Summit, Thursday, December 11th!

Presented by SFUSD and Parents for Public Schools

The SFUSD Student Inclusion Summit is a special event for SFUSD high school students, with and without disabilities, to come together, celebrate inclusion, build community, and learn from one another about creating more inclusive school environments.

When: Thursday, December 11th from 6:00-7:30pm

Where: Zoom- Register here!

Want to Learn More About Inclusion? Check out these inspiring workshops happening during inclusive schools week Link to this section

Monday, Dec 8th @ 9:00am: Rightful Presence: Reimagining Inclusion in Urban Schools presented by SWIFT National Center on Inclusion Toward Rightful Presence to support and enhance their inclusion efforts. Register Here.

Wednesday, Dec 10th @ 9:00am: Reel-Ed: Inclusive Learning Through Film. Register Here.

Thursday, Dec 11 @ 9:00am:  “How One School Went ALL IN!” Register Here.

Friday, Dec 12 @ 9:00am: Intentional Planning and Meaningful Celebrations. Register Here.

Inclusive Schools Week Activities & Ideas
Link to this section

10 Easy Inclusive Schools Week Celebration Ideas

  1. Build a Peace Corner in your classroom or school yard. Create a quiet place for students to cool down and take a moment to regroup when they are feeling overwhelmed.
  2. Put up an inclusion bulletin board in your classroom or the school hallway. Hang up pictures of disability heroes or student work on the topic of inclusion.
  3. Talk about Inclusion and Inclusive Schools Week during morning circle and include various modes of communication. For example, use sign language, foreign languages, and augmentative communication supports (including photos, pictures, and assistive technology devices, etc.).
  4. Read Inclusive books with your students that represent all marginalized students.
  5. Extra Credit Assignment: Watch either of the district's virtual events: "Inclusion in San Francisco- From the Birthplace of the Disability Rights Movement to Today" or the Special Olympics Virtual Assembly with Phillip Gonzales and then write a reflection. 
  6. Encourage and help students submit work in the SFUSD Online Inclusive Arts Showcase. Checkout the Inclusive Arts Showcase website for inspiration. 
  7. Check out the Inclusive Schools Network or 30th Anniversary of the ADA celebration guides for resources and ideas for your school community.
  8. Do some of the Champions of Inclusion Activities from the Inclusive Schools Network.
  9. Join the “Spread the Word to End the R-Word” Initiative
  10. Visit ADA30 in Color - a series of original essays on the past, present, and future of disability rights and justice by disabled people of color. Published and edited by Alice Wong, of the Disability Visibility Project

Inclusion Articles and Resources

Inclusion Videos

Check out our Inclusion You Tube Channel for more videos!

Grounding documents: talking about Race & White Supremacy Culture

LGBTQ+ Resources

Click on the links in the PRIDE Virtual Classroom to find a fun music LGBTQ+ Playlist, LGBTQ Heroes choiceboard, virtual library, and more!

Embrace Diversity to Build Safer, More Inclusive Communities 

“Dominator culture has tried to keep us all afraid, to make us choose safety instead of risk, sameness instead of diversity. Moving through that fear, finding out what connects us, reveling in our differences; this is the process that brings us closer, that gives us a world of shared values, of meaningful community.”    
                                                 —bell hooks, Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope

To uplift Transgender Awareness Week, we highlight these resources that emphasize why inclusive education is imperative and how the power of LGBTQ+ visibility fosters positive spaces of understanding and empathy where all students feel visible and accepted.

Visibility is Power by Elementary educator Skye Tooley emphasizes the power of LGBTQ+ visibility in fostering positive spaces of understanding and empathy where all students feel visible and accepted. From Learning for Justice.

Inclusive Education Benefits All Children by Melanie Willingham-Jaggers and the GLSEN Team. In confronting attacks on LGBTQ+ students’ rights to representation and safety in public education, we hold firm to creating inclusive and affirming learning spaces. From Learning for Justice

Advocating for LGBTQ Students with Disabilities - a guide for educators and parents/guardians on supporting LGBTQ students with an IEP or 504 plan

The Trevor Project - 2022 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health

 

Disability Voices - Quotes from disability advocates

Disability Voices

“Disability is not a brave struggle or courage in the face of adversity. Disability is an art. It is an ingenious way to live.”
-Neil Marcus, actor/playwright


“Disability must be considered within an intersectional framework because it cuts across political, social, and cultural narratives and identities. An intersectional lens challenges the historically white, cisgender, heterosexual understanding of disability to more accurately reflect the narratives as told by lived experiences of disabled people.”
-Sandy Ho, community organizer


“As ‘invisibles’, our history is hidden from us, our heroes buried in the pages, unnamed, unrecognized. Disability culture is about naming, about recognizing.”
-Cheryl Marie Wade, “Disability Culture Rap”

 

“Staying alive is a lot of work for a disabled person in an ableist society.”
-Alice Wong, editor; Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century

 

“Overthinking is one enemy of disability etiquette, but so is making assumptions about what a person wants and needs. Of course, individuals with disabilities want to be treated like everyone else, but when we say that, we don’t mean “treat every person exactly the same. We mean recognize our humanity and meet us where we are at.
-Kyle Khachadurian, cohost, The Accessible Stall podcast

Past Inclusion Events

2022 Event Highlights:

  • Keynote Event: "Inclusion in San Francisco- From the Birthplace of the Disability Rights Movement to Today" Presented in partnership with The Longmore Institute on Disability, Support for Families, Parents for Public Schools. Check out our Keynote Glossary & Community Resources to learn more about the Disability Rights Movement in San Francisco and the various resources the city has available through government organizations, community groups, etc.
  • 2nd District PTA 411 Wednesday: Inclusive & Accessible Meetings. Check out the slides and recording to learn more about frameworks and resources to make your meetings meetings accessible!

2020 Bitmoji Inclusion Classroom:

Check out our Inclusion Bitmoji Classroom to learn more about Inclusive Schools Week, Special Education and Disability Heroes!

a bitmoji in a room with a large fish tank, a shelving unit, bean bag chairs, books and other resources.

Inclusive Schools Week Highlights Link to this section

Check out our Inclusive Schools Week 2024 Recap for more pictures and highlights of the week. 

This page was last updated on December 4, 2025