How is it not to be Jewish at Sidwell

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
But not more than 50%, so they are indeed a minority.

Wow, we are talking about a people group that is 2% of americas population. I thought these schools were into diversity. I guess it is diversity that excludes economic diversity or representations of Americas population. Where are the red necks, the descendants of slaves, the children of the factory workers and truck drivers?
Not to mention the native Americans.

[Anonymous]

How is it not to be Jewish at Norwood these days?

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[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]Hmmm. . .Sidwell is a Quaker school isn't it? Seems like Jewish kids would be in the minority.[/quote]

Well the Jewish parent tour guide who said to me ," no, you don't have to be a Quaker to get in because most of them are dead" seemed VERY comfortable in her assertion so much so she felt perfectly confident saying something like that to strangers on a parent tour.

[Anonymous]

I think the point is that some people are offended by the constant parent whining and lobbying for ones child that seems to have become the new standard MO at Sidwell.Whether it be calling the Head of school about a grade DD or DS was given or complaining about play time in a sport ,the poor form of this new type of parent community detracts from the civility of what was once a fine school. The response is:" who cares, all I care about is my kid" and that is precisely the problem. It is death by a thousand cuts and all the $$$ in the endowment can't return the integrity to the school.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous]I think the point is that some people are offended by the constant parent whining and lobbying for ones child that seems to have become the new standard MO at Sidwell.Whether it be calling the Head of school about a grade DD or DS was given or complaining about play time in a sport ,the poor form of this new type of parent community detracts from the civility of what was once a fine school. The response is:" who cares, all I care about is my kid" and that is precisely the problem. It is death by a thousand cuts and all the $$$ in the endowment can't return the integrity to the school.[/quote]


And it's only Jews who do this? Yeah, right. This antisemitic crap is so ridiculous. What century are you people from? Believe it or not, there are plenty of crass rich assholes who are NOT Jewish. And (although I'm sure you would find this even harder to believe) there are plenty of Jews -- the majority I know, certainly-- who are neither crass nor rich.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hmmm. . .Sidwell is a Quaker school isn't it? Seems like Jewish kids would be in the minority.[/quote]

Well the Jewish parent tour guide who said to me ," no, you don't have to be a Quaker to get in because most of them are dead" seemed VERY comfortable in her assertion so much so she felt perfectly confident saying something like that to strangers on a parent tour.[/quote]

How did you know she was Jewish?

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hmmm. . .Sidwell is a Quaker school isn't it? Seems like Jewish kids would be in the minority.[/quote]

Well the Jewish parent tour guide who said to me ," no, you don't have to be a Quaker to get in because most of them are dead" seemed VERY comfortable in her assertion so much so she felt perfectly confident saying something like that to strangers on a parent tour.[/quote]

How did you know she was Jewish?[/quote]

As someone very familiar with SFS... there are at the very least 2x more Jewish families than Quakers... The school is ethnically and internationally diverse in a healthy way; however, I wonder what percentile of the US born caucasian's are Jewish, Quaker, Christian... that would be an interesting an interesting stat that we will never see. I don't there are as many Jewish families as there used to be.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hmmm. . .Sidwell is a Quaker school isn't it? Seems like Jewish kids would be in the minority.[/quote]

Well the Jewish parent tour guide who said to me ," no, you don't have to be a Quaker to get in because most of them are dead" seemed VERY comfortable in her assertion so much so she felt perfectly confident saying something like that to strangers on a parent tour.[/quote]

Did she also mention that they made nice furniture?

Seriously, I'm a Sidwell parent and I would guess that it's about 20% Jewish, with some variation between grades. That seems in keeping with the population interested in sending their kids to DC private schools. Sidwell doesn't close for Jewish holidays, but does have a "no major tests, no homework due, no new homework assigned" policy for the High Holidays and first night of Passover. They also have matzoh available in the cafeteria during Passover, but it gets eaten by everyone, not just the Jewish kids! OTOH, Meeting for Worship is mandatory (although if a family has a religious objection to attending they'll work with you), and Quakerism is included in some parts of the curriculum.

[Anonymous]

What do they do for Kwanzaa, Eid, Christmas, Easter - no homework, no tests, special celebration? If it is only 20% Jewish, what do they do for the other 80%?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do they do for Kwanzaa, Eid, Christmas, Easter - no homework, no tests, special celebration? If it is only 20% Jewish, what do they do for the other 80%?

Is this a real question?

Well, Quakerism is a Christian religion, and they are off for Christmas and Easter. Kwanzaa is during winter break (check your calendar). For major holidays in other religions, they'll work with kids/families - reschedule tests, give extensions on homework, etc. It all seems pretty logical to me.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hmmm. . .Sidwell is a Quaker school isn't it? Seems like Jewish kids would be in the minority.[/quote]

Well the Jewish parent tour guide who said to me ," no, you don't have to be a Quaker to get in because most of them are dead" seemed VERY comfortable in her assertion so much so she felt perfectly confident saying something like that to strangers on a parent tour.[/quote]

[b]Did she also mention that they made nice furniture?[/b]

Seriously, I'm a Sidwell parent and I would guess that it's about 20% Jewish, with some variation between grades. That seems in keeping with the population interested in sending their kids to DC private schools. Sidwell doesn't close for Jewish holidays, but does have a "no major tests, no homework due, no new homework assigned" policy for the High Holidays and first night of Passover. They also have matzoh available in the cafeteria during Passover, but it gets eaten by everyone, not just the Jewish kids! OTOH, Meeting for Worship is mandatory (although if a family has a religious objection to attending they'll work with you), and Quakerism is included in some parts of the curriculum.[/quote]

I think you mean the Shakers?

[Anonymous]

Actually, I was trying to suggest that she meant the Shakers - unsuccessful joke.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I think the point is that some people are offended by the constant parent whining and lobbying for ones child that seems to have become the new standard MO at Sidwell.Whether it be calling the Head of school about a grade DD or DS was given or complaining about play time in a sport ,the poor form of this new type of parent community detracts from the civility of what was once a fine school. The response is:" who cares, all I care about is my kid" and that is precisely the problem. It is death by a thousand cuts and all the $$$ in the endowment can't return the integrity to the school.[/quote]


And it's only Jews who do this? Yeah, right. This antisemitic crap is so ridiculous. What century are you people from? Believe it or not, there are plenty of crass rich assholes who are NOT Jewish. And (although I'm sure you would find this even harder to believe) there are plenty of Jews -- the majority I know, certainly-- who are neither crass nor rich. [/quote]

Excuse me, but where in my post do you find the word Jewish ???

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Hmmm. . .Sidwell is a Quaker school isn't it? Seems like Jewish kids would be in the minority.[/quote]

Well the Jewish parent tour guide who said to me ," no, you don't have to be a Quaker to get in because most of them are dead" seemed VERY comfortable in her assertion so much so she felt perfectly confident saying something like that to strangers on a parent tour.[/quote]

[b]Did she also mention that they made nice furniture?[/b]

Reply: Her taste was more in line with the Chanel sun glasses that she had flipped up on top of her head ( for some reason she felt she needed them there while inside the school) . I doubt she'd know Shaker from Danish modern , East Lake, County French or Louis XV.The fact that someone so prententious and disrespectful to the spirit of the school had been allowed to be a guide on a parent tour...let alone be admitted to the school spoke volumes about what kind of people they have at Sidwell.

Seriously, I'm a Sidwell parent and I would guess that it's about 20% Jewish, with some variation between grades. That seems in keeping with the population interested in sending their kids to DC private schools. Sidwell doesn't close for Jewish holidays, but does have a "no major tests, no homework due, no new homework assigned" policy for the High Holidays and first night of Passover. They also have matzoh available in the cafeteria during Passover, but it gets eaten by everyone, not just the Jewish kids! OTOH, Meeting for Worship is mandatory (although if a family has a religious objection to attending they'll work with you), and Quakerism is included in some parts of the curriculum.[/quote]

I think you mean the Shakers?[/quote]

[Anonymous]

Not to take this thread off its anti-Semitic track, but it is often the case IMHO that the parents who serve as tour guides are not terribly representative of the school parents. Or perhaps I should say that they represent the school parents terribly!!

Think about it. The tour parents often tend to enjoy standing in front of groups and getting noticed, think they are high up in the "parent hierarchy" which is a term only THEY use, be pretentious, select a private school at least in part for "connections" and so forth.

The quiet parents who are completely average, normal folks who care about their kids' education but view the school as a SCHOOL rather than the new center of their family's social world generally do not step forward and volunteer to lead tours. Sometimes they graciously agree to do so when asked ....

So keep this in mind when you tour schools. It is the teachers who will be interacting with your children every day, so pay attention to the vibes you get from them ... not pretentious parents and administrators.