The upcoming school year of 2023-2024 will mark the first time the Beachwood City Schools will recognize the Asian holidays of Diwali, Lunar New Year and Eid al-Fitr. 

On Lunar New Year (February 9, 2024) and Eid al-Fitr (April 10, 2024), there will be no school. Diwali falls on a weekend next year. 

Asst. Superintendent Ken Veon played a large role in creating the new school calendars and presenting the idea to the school board. 

Veon explained that the move was prompted by the need to recognize the rapidly-growing Asian demographic of the district, reaching up to 18.5% this year according to the statistics in Infinite Campus. 

“We have a growing population with this need… so why not recognize it on a larger scale?” Veon asked.

Beachwood already recognizes Jewish and Christian holidays such as Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah and Good Friday by not having school on those days due to the significant demographic of students who celebrate those holidays. 

Kevin Houchins, the school district’s Director of Equity and Community Engagement, also played a huge role in facilitating conversations with different affinity groups and voicing their concerns to the district. 

“We learned… that many of the kids didn’t have the opportunity to celebrate with their families because there was not a day off from school,” Houchins said. “That became one of the challenges that the families talked about. It wasn’t even a complaint, it was just a challenge …that’s how the whole process started.” 

In May of 2022, a group of parents formed the Chinese-American affinity group, the first specific affinity group in Beachwood. The Indian-American, African-American, Hispanic/Latino affinity, and most recently the Muslim affinity groups quickly followed. 

The purpose of these affinity groups is to promote collaboration and constructive conversations between the school administration and community members. The school district encourages citizens to create their own or join affinity groups if they see fit. 

Xiao Hong, a Beachwood parent, is part of the Chinese-American affinity group and participated in the conversations and planning for the introduction of Lunar New Year to the school district calendar. 

Hong explained the collaborative process. 

“At the time it was not specific which holiday, but just to add additional holidays to … include diversity,” she said.

She also emphasizes the importance of the discussions in the equity group. 

“I was at the equity group, so we are very supportive of including holidays,” she said. “…It’s [ultimately] up to the [School Board] to see which holiday they will [recognize], but of course I [advocated] the idea of including Chinese holidays.” 

There are many factors to consider when adding new holidays. There is no set limit as to how many holidays can be added, but factors such as timing, the impact on teachers, students and the community were carefully analyzed before making the decision. 

“It’s not about a number,” Veon said. “We would never limit the number of holidays we recognize if that’s our community. These three holidays represent a large portion of our community currently. …We have to see how the impact is and continue to see what the impact is for some of the adjustments we’ve made.” 

Houchins emphasizes that the addition of these holidays to the calendar was not just a one-time project, but is part of an ongoing process of community engagement and evaluation of needs.

One consideration is student attendance. 

“[When] we have a number of students out for any particular day…[We] look at the number of students that are out and [consider] how it’s impacting the classroom and community as a whole,” Houchins said.

Not everyone in the community was immediately on board with adding the new holidays to the district calendar.

“[There were] parents who opposed the idea,” Hong said. “For example, they said that the school already has enough holidays … If we’re including Chinese holidays, are we leaving [other] holidays out?”

Hong believes the move will have a positive impact on all students.

“It’s definitely going to have a very positive effect, not just to the students who have the background of these three holidays,” she said. “No matter whether you like [school-wide celebration of the holidays] or not, it’s reality. The school is a diverse school so we need to celebrate the holidays as a whole.” 

Houchins says the affinity groups have been helpful in allowing parents from different backgrounds to express experiences that have not previously been heard and to have them formally acknowledged. 

“We’ve learned a lot about how different people experience our schools,” he said. “And as we learn that information, we will examine the data again and make the appropriate calls for what type of changes we need to [make].” 

Beachwood City Schools has set a precedent for nearby schools on celebrating culture and diversity by becoming one of the first schools in Ohio to recognize Eid, Lunar New Year and Diwali. 

“It’s our responsibility to be respectful of the people that make up our community,” Veon said. “And so then, hopefully, we will be a model not only in Ohio but across the U.S.” 

Participants hope that affinity groups can continue to share ideas.

“I think in the future … We’ll do more celebrations between the [affinity groups] so that we not only have a group bonding inside [a specific group], but we also have bonding between different groups so that we all learn from each other,” she said.

Houchins agrees that the addition of the three new holidays is a step forward.

“It’s what inclusion should look like,” he said.