One of Spence's highest priorities is to create a learning environment that reflects the diversity of the world in which we live and prepares students for responsible citizenship.
The School's warm and nurturing atmosphere, coupled with its broad curriculum, provide a platform for mutual discovery, respect and understanding. The principle of inclusiveness on which the School is firmly based is as important as the rigorous quality of its academics and the strength of its faculty.
Spence is dedicated to maintaining a supportive culture where students and adults from all ethnic, socio-economic and cultural backgrounds feel at home and thrive. A small, close-knit community, Spence is committed to critical thought and inquiry, characterized by attention to the individual, and enriched by what students and teachers from diverse backgrounds and experiences can learn from one another.
Over the past several decades, Spence has attracted an increasingly diverse student body. Currently, students of color in Grades K–12 make up 33 percent of the student body. Each year the incoming Kindergarten class is composed of students from nearly 30 different nursery schools. Nineteen percent of the student body receives financial assistance. Twenty-six percent of the faculty are people of color.