Is there an independent school that exposes children to non-European cultures and religions?

[Anonymous]

We're touring schools now, and are looking for this since DH and I come from different countries. Perhaps its too much to ask, but it appears so far that the emphasis is very American or definitely European, rather than global in all the schools we've looked at. We've looked at Maret, GDS, Beauvoir so far. All these do try to be diverse but focus is still centered on the Judeo-Christian world. WIS has a very European feel to it, and obviously the languages focused upon are European. We'll be visiting Sidwell soon, and I hear they are trying to be more global. In both of our countries, the best schools try to be global in their approach to literature, social studies, religion. I am starting to suspect it is because our countries of origin are not the economic superpower of the world but wondering why is not the main point here. If anyone has experienced a school that truly tries to raise a global citizen, please do write back here. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

You could check out the Oneness Family School.

[Anonymous]

There is a huge amount of diversity at Holton; they do a global multicultural event called Mosaic that features food, cultural traditions and other from any country represented at the school. Definitely not limited to Europeans.

[Anonymous]

The German School.

[Anonymous]

The Saudis have a school in Va. Try that one. OK, I'm being facetious, but be realistic here: private schools are established and maintained primarily by people with money. Many of them are modeled on British or European schools (hence the use of "forms" instead of grades, refectories, etc.). There just aren't enough wealthy people who are interested in the kind of school you describe to have any well-known schools like that. Sure you can find the occasional charter with an Afrocentric outlook or special schools catering to certain nationalities, but as a general matter, you're searching for a unicorn.

[Anonymous]

WIS has a lot of families from Latin America.
Sidwell is proud that it has families from something like 120 countries. (They will tell you on the tour.) Many of them have one American parent, a foreign parent. I think this gives you a leg up because they are looking to educate global citizens. It does feel very American in the end, at least on tours.

[Anonymous]

Maybe St. Patricks. There are kids in my DC's classes that are from Eastern European, Middle Eastern and Asian countries. I also know that there is exposure to the Muslim, Jewish,etc faiths in the religion curriculum.

[Anonymous]

Having parents from elsewhere does not change what the kids actually study. Many of these school have a pretty diverse student body. I think OP is talking about what the schools actually teach. That is going to be hard to find.

[Anonymous]

Check out the Oneness School or WIS. Or if you really want multiculturalism, try enrolling your child in a Montgomery County public school.

[Anonymous]

We live in Montgomery County, and must respond to the claim that it will provide a multicultural curriculum. We recently moved our kids out of MCPS, not for this reason though. But had one child in MCPS all the way through elementary school. Her classes were pretty homogeneous, and the curriculum was just a regular curriculum. There was nothing in it that focused on global issues. I would have taken any social studies frankly, even that with an American focus. Some MCPS schools can be diverse - depends which one you are talking about. But they aren't teaching about social studies across different countries.

[Anonymous]

Holton is extremely diverse; some classes more than others. There is a global studies program that is incorporated into social studies at the youngest grades.

[Anonymous]

I don't know what years you're looking at (I'm guessing from the reference to Beauvior that it's PreK-3), but over the past few years my middle schooler at GDS has a curriculum that "tries to be global in their approach to literature, social studies, and religion." The 5th grade unit on freedom and justice looked at the Civil Rights movement in comparative perspective with anti-colonial movements in India and anti-apartheid politics in South Africa. The 6th grade curriculum included units on Hinduism and Buddhism and its conceptualization of Ancient Civ including Pakistan, India, China, and Nubia as well as Egypt and Rome. When the 7th grade studies empires, they look at four examples -- two from Europe, one from the Middle East and one from Africa. Islam gets equal billing with Christianity and Judaism when they discuss monotheistic religious traditions.

Kids can start Chinese in 3rd, 7th, or 9th (and maybe 10th) grade. The French language program looks at the Francophone world generally (all of the LS/MS French teachers are from North Africa; don't know about the HS) and I think that the Spanish program spends more time on writers from Latin America than from Spain.

Don't know if this is what you're looking for, but I mention it because it might not be apparent from course titles or a classroom visit or open house.

[Anonymous]

Congressional and Browne have quite a few families from "non-superpower" countries. I know of families from Egypt, Ethiopia and India at these two schools.

[Anonymous]

Beauvoir does do a global study each year. Last year was Asia, Austrailia and New Zealand. This year is Europe. They will also cover South America, Africa, and Native North America in the next years as well. While this is not perfect they are trying to expand the children's knowledge of the world.

I do not know if this is what the OP is looking for or an overall feel to the school. If it is an overall feel then Beauvoir may not be the right fit

[Anonymous]

I am learning a lot from some of the PPs. Thank you very much. One common misperception that I want to point out. Hinduism is also a monotheistic religion with "brahman" being the supreme being. Hindus are a diverse bunch, and common practice includes worshipping an array of gods and goddesses that are considered to be manifestations of the supreme being. In some ways their actual status (each has a festival) is similar though not identical to that of the many saints popularly worshipped in some Catholic countries. However, the early British colonizers spread rumors of a polytheistic and "lesser" religion in part because they didn't know better and in part because it justified their takeover of India.