Do students attend CES Jewish Day School if they are not Jewish?

[Anonymous]

My daughter is a JDS graduate. I am not Jewish and never converted; she converted as an infant when we met with a beth din, DH took her into the Mikva, recited prayers, etc. We joined a Conservative synagogue and she and her two siblings did nursery school there before going to our local K-5 before moving to private for MS. Jewish nursery school as a non-Jewish 3yo is very different from attending the required morning prayers and then several classes in Judaic studies (plus Hebrew) as well as all the core classes. As a non-Jewish student, all your electives would be primarily Judaic studies, your language options are restricted (Hebrew for all, Arabic and Spanish as electives). The day is long (8-3:45) even by most private school standards. And they take 8 semesters worth of credits in 7 semesters to satisfy state diploma requirements to enable the 3-month (optional) capstone trip to Israel after graduating in February. My daughter thrived at JDS and the faculty is excellent. It is pluralistic - some very observant Orthodox and modern Orthodox, and observant Conservative along with a smattering or Reform. Some very conservative students refused to accept my daughter as Jewish because she was not born to a (born) Jewish mother - so there are a range of views.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I hope not. I enroll my kids in a jewish school because I want them to make predominantly jewish friends, and to be in an environment where jewish people are the majority.

Imagine saying this about any other group.

You are a bigot.

Plenty of people say this about HCBUs. Sure they admit non-African Americans, but the modern point is to create a community where the Black experience is foremost and anyone else who joins needs to understand and be ok with that. Similarly there are schools in Hawaii that are reserved nearly exclusively for native Hawaiian children, to promote language and culture. To be consistent, I assume you’re going to say that HCBUs and native Hawaiian schools are bigoted too?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, I hope not. I enroll my kids in a jewish school because I want them to make predominantly jewish friends, and to be in an environment where jewish people are the majority.

Imagine saying this about any other group.

You are a bigot.

Are you this worked up about same sex schools too? Bigoted to permit all girls or all boys schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is a JDS graduate. I am not Jewish and never converted; she converted as an infant when we met with a beth din, DH took her into the Mikva, recited prayers, etc. We joined a Conservative synagogue and she and her two siblings did nursery school there before going to our local K-5 before moving to private for MS. Jewish nursery school as a non-Jewish 3yo is very different from attending the required morning prayers and then several classes in Judaic studies (plus Hebrew) as well as all the core classes. As a non-Jewish student, all your electives would be primarily Judaic studies, your language options are restricted (Hebrew for all, Arabic and Spanish as electives). The day is long (8-3:45) even by most private school standards. And they take 8 semesters worth of credits in 7 semesters to satisfy state diploma requirements to enable the 3-month (optional) capstone trip to Israel after graduating in February. My daughter thrived at JDS and the faculty is excellent. It is pluralistic - some very observant Orthodox and modern Orthodox, and observant Conservative along with a smattering or Reform. Some very conservative students refused to accept my daughter as Jewish because she was not born to a (born) Jewish mother - so there are a range of views.

Most orthodox are not going to JDS, it's more reformed and conservative with a few mixed in. Many believe bloodlines are though the mom. Kids can very much feel like outsiders. We looked at both Jewish and Catholic schools and all but one Catholic made us feel like outsiders at the visits even though my husband is Catholic (kids identify as non-practicing Jews).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You'll find a lot less non-Jews attending a Jewish Day School than you would non-Catholics at a Catholic School.

How do you feel about Israel? It's especially pertinent these days.

Does this matter? I ask because every Jewish person I know seems to have a very different opinion.

It will definitely matter at a Jewish school. You have got to support Israel no matter what. There is no room for dissent

Please don’t turn this into a Gaza thread. Steering every discussion of American Jewish life to Gaza/Israel is antisemitic.

Well, it is a tough topic to ignore right now and please stop overusing the word antisemitic. If you cry wolf at every little thing, perhaps you are the problem

[Anonymous]

I would worry that the academics are weak.
Religious studies take up a lot of time