March 18-26 marked Woodward’s Week of Understanding, an annual event focused on promoting diversity, connection, and empathy. While diversity is a strength of the Academy and is celebrated  every day, the Week of Understanding is a special week when all five schools within the Academy place extra focus on celebrating the rich diversity of our school community in age-appropriate ways. The week also is used to enrich student learning about a common theme. The 2024 theme was “forgiveness.”

A lunch session on Monday featured a visit from Interfaith Atlanta presenters to discuss their faith traditions and the value of forgiveness. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday student members of the interfaith council offered presentations on their faiths and forgiveness. Friday, March 22 featured a visit to the Lower School by authors Surishtha Sehgal and Kabir Sehgal. A WOU Festival in Champions Gym on Friday featured tables sponsored by campus groups, giving students and adults the opportunity to engage with and better understand those groups’ affinity or identity.

The week also saw the debut of an incredible WOU art installation in the Jane Woodruff Hall atrium as well as a "table of forgiveness" used to collect stories of forgiveness and foster conversation.

As a culminating event, international guest speaker Richard Moore visited campus on Monday and Tuesday of this week to engage with our community.