are there many jewish children at beauvoir? just curious if our child would fit in?

[Anonymous]

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[Anonymous]

Yes, there are a lot of Jewish kids at Beauvoir and they recognize the Jewish holidays there.

[Anonymous]

Are all of the children required to attend church services or functions?

[Anonymous]

Beauvoir is a cathedral school, not a church school. There are lots of kids with one Jewish parent - in some classes 30% - and generally a couple per class who are practicing. There are generally a few Jewish teachers, mostly revealed by their absence at Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. Beauvoir has accommodated families who keep kosher. There are cathedral activities, but they are just as likely to be about Ramadan as Easter, pretty much - and they hammer home the Beauvoir Life Rules, which are Respect, Responsibility, Honesty and Kindness. There is a Christmas pageant, and we were consulted in advance about whether it would be all right for our child to be, for example, an angel. There are readers in chapel, but they don't ask the Jews to read the New Testament bits (and are generally careful about the choice of texts). As a parent you're expected at Thanksgiving Chapel (with a grandparent or Special Guest), Christmas Chapel, and Closing Chapel, all in the cathedral. There are a couple of Episcopal hymns, and the shape of the service is Episcopalian distilled for 6-year-olds. You can sit in the back with the Jews and the Muslims and the Hindus, and read or check your e-mail - you'll have plenty of company. (Or you can follow those Life Rules better than I did, and actually participate...) They teach so little religion that my children were completely muddled about what Easter actually was.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Beauvoir is a cathedral school, not a church school. There are lots of kids with one Jewish parent - in some classes 30% - and generally a couple per class who are practicing. There are generally a few Jewish teachers, mostly revealed by their absence at Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. Beauvoir has accommodated families who keep kosher. There are cathedral activities, but they are just as likely to be about Ramadan as Easter, pretty much - and they hammer home the Beauvoir Life Rules, which are Respect, Responsibility, Honesty and Kindness. There is a Christmas pageant, and we were consulted in advance about whether it would be all right for our child to be, for example, an angel. There are readers in chapel, but they don't ask the Jews to read the New Testament bits (and are generally careful about the choice of texts). As a parent you're expected at Thanksgiving Chapel (with a grandparent or Special Guest), Christmas Chapel, and Closing Chapel, all in the cathedral. There are a couple of Episcopal hymns, and the shape of the service is Episcopalian distilled for 6-year-olds. You can sit in the back with the Jews and the Muslims and the Hindus, and read or check your e-mail - you'll have plenty of company. (Or you can follow those Life Rules better than I did, and actually participate...) They teach so little religion that my children were completely muddled about what Easter actually was.

I am one of these (Jewish Beauvoir parent married to someone from another faith). I agree with much of what is quoted above - Beauvoir really strives to embrace those from all faiths. I do not believe that the number of Jewish families, certainly with two practicing parents, is very high at Beauvoir. Sadly (and I apologize for the editorializing), too many of us seem to sacrifice at least some part of our Jewish identity for the sake of assimilating and fitting in with the other Beauvoir families. And make no mistake about it - everywhere you turn there are reminders, most notably the omnipresent Cathedral, that you are treading in the heart of the land of the WASPs (for lack of a better phrase, no offense intended).