How religious is Sidwell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are; but I have two questions for you:

1. You state you have access to the handbook. If you do you are in the school already. So you know what it’s like.

which leads to:

2. What is your problem?

Info is available in the handbook to people already at the school but not to those who are considering the school. So those people without that access ask questions that people with access can answer.

Hence, OP’s question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s a legit question and is asked about the Catholic schools all the time. If a family or a student is not Quaker or not religious at all, what is the experience like? While one can refer to the school’s website/viewbook/handbook, that’s not going to tell you what it’s like day to day.

And there have been responses here that run from full on Quaker to just a few minutes each week. So experiences do vary and that’s useful info.

No, experiences do not vary within a grade. In lower grades, there is daily silence, which begins with a few minutes. But in upper school, all 600 students go to a weekly Meeting of Worship that follows the most used protocol for Quaker meetings of worship, and runs for 40 minutes.

Again, useful info.

You are a hate-spreading troll who is by your own admission already in the school.

Go sign another anonymous petition to change it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are; but I have two questions for you:

1. You state you have access to the handbook. If you do you are in the school already. So you know what it’s like.

which leads to:

2. What is your problem?

Info is available in the handbook to people already at the school but not to those who are considering the school. So those people without that access ask questions that people with access can answer.

Hence, OP’s question.

Nope. The person seeking answers referred to the handbook. They are not seeking answers. They are a disgruntled current parent that can find no allies. There were trolling, but because they are also stupid they were caught red-handed so are now furiously backpedaling to disguise hate as a PSA. Too little too late

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No there is not. The community at large is 65% Christian, 32% atheist/agnostic many of whom have affinity for Christian traditions. I haven’t heard anyone complain at all.

What on earth does this mean:

“There is a disconnect between the school's professed values and the values of the student body and especially the parents.”

I can attest to it not being true.

This can't be correct. You're saying that 65% of the students are Christian, 35% are atheist/agnostic (with many of them having an "affinity" for Christian traditions, whatever that means, leaving 3% for everyone else.

Are you saying that no more than 3% of the student body is Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or something else?

That's not true.

I'm guessing that what is true is that no more than 3% of the student body is Quaker (at least at the start), and probably even less. Nearly the entire student body and faculty is compelled to attend worship services of a religion that's not their own. That's remarkable.

This is the hate.

Look easy to solve if you are bothered.

Plenty of religious schools, I’m sure there’s even a madrasa someplace. Plenty of non-religious schools. There’s really everything on offer in DC. This is a troll thread

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are; but I have two questions for you:

1. You state you have access to the handbook. If you do you are in the school already. So you know what it’s like.

which leads to:

2. What is your problem?

Info is available in the handbook to people already at the school but not to those who are considering the school. So those people without that access ask questions that people with access can answer.

Hence, OP’s question.

Nope. The person seeking answers referred to the handbook. They are not seeking answers. They are a disgruntled current parent that can find no allies. There were trolling, but because they are also stupid they were caught red-handed so are now furiously backpedaling to disguise hate as a PSA. Too little too late

I just read this entire endless thread and I don't see any hate. It seems like there are one or more people providing factual answers to OP's question.

As someone else wrote, if the same question was asked about STA, Gonzaga, NPS, or lots of other places, saying the school is religious and there are chapel services would be a non-controversial response. Why is saying that there is a weekly Quaker Meeting of Worship somehow hate?

This is crazy.

[Anonymous]

I think it's a legitimate question. Stop trying to shut down threads you don't like.

[Anonymous]

You still haven’t said what is your problem?

Why is it crazy that there is a meeting for worship?

No one believes this is a legitimate thread. Lots of eye rolls at the game.

[Anonymous]

What’s crazy is being triggered by equality for women and pacifism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s crazy is being triggered by equality for women and pacifism.

What's crazy is being triggered by a simple question and labeling anyone who asks it a provocateur. Does not reflect well on Sidwell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You still haven’t said what is your problem?

Why is it crazy that there is a meeting for worship?

No one believes this is a legitimate thread. Lots of eye rolls at the game.

No one is saying that have a weekly religious service is crazy. What's crazy is to call someone hateful for answering a question on whether a school is religious by pointing out that 600 students go to a weekly Quaker Meeting of Worship. That's a factual response to a straightforward question. Not hate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s crazy is being triggered by equality for women and pacifism.

Huh?

[Anonymous]

There is more than one person on this thread asking this question. Why is it so hard to understand that this is something those who aren’t already at the school would want to know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a legitimate question. Stop trying to shut down threads you don't like.

The original question is legitimate, assuming it was asked in good faith. It’s been answered many times here. Your kid will attend a meeting once a week during which your kid will be quiet and, hopefully, will contemplate life, etc. If that works for you, fine. If not, fine.

[Anonymous]

Here's another factual response. The weekly Meeting of Worship is not held in a gym or some other typical school space. Instead, Sidwell designed a Quaker meeting room to look almost exactly like a typical Quaker meeting house, replete with simple wooden benches facing each other, and wood paneling and floors. It's a lovely room, but is fully the equivalent of a chapel at any of the other religious schools in the area. That might be what you want, or at least an acceptable price for your child going to Sidwell, but it is ridiculous to argue that Sidwell is somehow not religious. It is. And it's not hate to say that it is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a legitimate question. Stop trying to shut down threads you don't like.

The original question is legitimate, assuming it was asked in good faith. It’s been answered many times here. Your kid will attend a meeting once a week during which your kid will be quiet and, hopefully, will contemplate life, etc. If that works for you, fine. If not, fine.

And that "meeting" is in fact a Quaker Meeting of Worship, follows the usual protocol for a Quaker meeting of worship, and is attended by all US students--- and Quakerism is a religion. Shouldn't be so hard to answer OP's question.