Last week, Rye Country Day School and Common Circles were honored to welcome state and local officials to campus for a guided tour of We Are RCDS!: Bridging, Belonging, & Building Community. The group learned about the RCDS and Common Circles partnership, which is aimed at fostering empathy, reducing bias and antisemitism, and building a sense of belonging.

“How wonderful it was to host these distinguished guests and showcase the important work RCDS is doing in partnership with Common Circles to create a more inclusive, connected world through experiential education. I am extremely grateful they visited us to see this meaningful initiative firsthand.”
–Randall Dunn, Head of School
 

Left-to-Right
Hon. Shelley Mayer, New York State Senator
Hon. Jennifer Fields-Tawil, Town of Ossining Councilwoman
Sue Spiegel, Common Circles Creative Director
Hon. Vedat Gashi, Westchester County Board of Legislators, Chair
Hon. Kenneth Jenkins, Westchester County Executive 
Marla Felton, Common Circles Founder
Randall Dunn, Head of School Rye Country Day School

Also in attendance but not pictured
Hon. Judah Holstein
Hon. Emiljana Ulaj
Hon. Nancy Barr
Lisa Urban, Trustee for the Town of Mamaroneck

Prior to this visit, RCDS and Common Circles hosted Scarsdale Mayor Justin Arest, New Rochelle Mayor Yadira Ramos-Herbert, and Ossining Mayor Rika Levin, as well as various school district superintendents, heads of school, interfaith leaders, and educators and leaders from BOCES and NYS Education Department.

READ MORE ABOUT PART 1:We Are RCDS

READ MORE ABOUT PART 2:Voices Against Hate: Lessons from the Holocaust

ABOUT THE COMMON CIRCLES EXPERIENCE AT RCDS
The two-part interactive educational exhibit uses art, technology, storytelling, and lessons from the Holocaust to spread awareness and empathy, improve intergroup relations, and build bridges in communities.

The exhibit, which celebrated its official grand opening in February, has been installed at Rye Country Day School since the fall of 2024. All Lower and Middle School students have toured the exhibit, and Upper School students are slated to participate throughout the month of May. We Are RCDS will be integrated into Rye Country Day’s curricular work through the 2025-26 school year. 

In addition, hundreds of members of the local community, including school groups, have visited campus to experience We Are RCDS and the way it takes viewers through engaging activities highlighting our multi-layered identities (Part 1) as well as testimonials about Holocaust history (Part 2) from survivors and liberators.

In a year where Rye Country Day’s theme is Connection, Common Circles is a perfect complement. Head of School Randall Dunn said about the exhibit, “Common Circles is a wonderful initiative that dovetails with our active approach to building awareness and educating our community about antisemitism and other forms of hate. This work is critical and it is an affirmation of RCDS’s commitment to inclusion and combating hate through education, connection, and mutual respect.” Emphasizing the power of the historic and testimonial elements of Part 2, Mr. Dunn shared, “The experience moves us all–young and old–to remember our responsibility to be upstanders and to do everything we can to make sure such horrific events never happen again.”