Jewish Kid at Catholic School

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not in DC so can’t speak to any schools there, but my dc has been in Catholic high school and found the student and teachers welcoming.

Corrected

I guess we know where you ARE, lol!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are Episcopalian and felt out of place at an all girls Catholic where families all seemed to know each other from church or the club or both. Didn’t mind the religion classes (Ethics was actually one of DD’s favorite classes), but don’t underestimate the ways in which Catholicism is part of every day life and interactions at the school.

Totally agree. For a parallel story, we’re Jewish (reform but observant) and did one year at an Episcopal school. The admissions folks were very kind, but I don’t think even they realized how Christian the school would feel to non-Christians. No one was exclusionary on purpose, but it felt “off” socially and all the hype around Christmas & Easter was awkward. Live and learn!

(OP, I really would stick with secular schools if possible.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are Episcopalian and felt out of place at an all girls Catholic where families all seemed to know each other from church or the club or both. Didn’t mind the religion classes (Ethics was actually one of DD’s favorite classes), but don’t underestimate the ways in which Catholicism is part of every day life and interactions at the school.

Agree.

FWIW We are Catholic, but not originally from Montgomery County, and experienced something similar at our kids Catholic k-8. Alot of the families had known each other for generations - there are a lot of very old Irish Catholic families in MoCo. The parents were perfectly friendly, however, were not particularly interested in becoming friends with "new" parents. This didn't affect our kids' experience at all though and clearly wasn't based on religion.

This isn't a thing at the bigger Catholic high schools in the area because the famlies come from different middle schools, live in different areas, and there are quite a few different religions/

(And there were Muslim and Jewish students in my all girls Catholic high school (in another state) way back in the 1980s, and it wasn't a big deal at all. )

[Anonymous]

Not sure where you are, but look into Madeira in Virginia. They have busses to MD & DC. It's one of the few all-girls secular options. My daughter doesn't go there there but she loved it when she was looking at high schools.

[Anonymous]

I would ask to speak to Jewish families at schools you are considering. I see posts on here from non-Jews saying that there are Jews at their Catholic school and it is “fine” but that doesn’t tell you what it actually feels like to be a Jew at these schools.

[Anonymous]

OP, she will not be happy.

[Anonymous]

Grew up in another state and went to an independent Catholic school where the student body was a real mix of religious affiliations. We took religion courses and those who were Catholic took one or two that were specifically for Catholics. Non Catholics could choose to take the Catholic focused course or something like world religions. The school was very faith based, but despite weekly mass felt very open and welcoming to all religious groups. I’ve not encountered anything that comes close to that in the Catholic schools in the DMV. That’s not to say your Jewish daughter would be discriminated against or not have a good experience, but the Catholicism piece of is much much stronger—as in baked into everything, not just parish affiliations—than what I experienced in HS. At many schools there’s a prayer at the beginning of every class, for example. I’ve noticed a lot of families opting for Catholic schools because many are less expensive than secular schools only to be surprised how Catholic they are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would ask to speak to Jewish families at schools you are considering. I see posts on here from non-Jews saying that there are Jews at their Catholic school and it is “fine” but that doesn’t tell you what it actually feels like to be a Jew at these schools.

+1. Just because a non-Jewish person doesn’t hear about or see problems doesn’t mean they’re not there.

Catholic schools tend to be very clear about what they are offering. Believe them.

[Anonymous]

DS is at Gonzaga. We’re Catholic and the majority of students are, but there is a decent percentage who are not and we know a few boys who are Jewish. DS is friends with one of these boys and he loves the school. Obviously Gonzaga is not an option for your DD and I’m not familiar with the all girls Catholic schools in the area. But I think it’s worth at least looking at some of the independent Catholics like
Stone Ridge or Visi.

[Anonymous]

I have two daughters at SR and just asked them if they had any Jewish classmates, they are not aware of any. They do have Jewish friends on their club sports teams and went to their fair share of bar mitzvahs, I'm sure they would be welcoming, but I'm guessing it's very rare.

[Anonymous]

OP you have lost your mind

It’s Catholic school they teach indoctrination into the church
They teach non science


This is absurd I am a Jew that grew up as the only Jew on a Catholic area no OP . Absolutely stupid of you to consider this

[Anonymous]

Madeira is your only all girls option.

[Anonymous]

There is no reasonable justification for sending a Jewish kid to one of the single gender Catholic school in this area.

It's absurd. And kind of actively cruel for a parent to even consider. The educational options are not better and they will be actively practicing a religion that you don't ascribe to. And these aren't religious schools in history only, they are a pray before every class kind of religious school.

I can see why the school would admit you, they want your $ and probably think they can convert your kid.

But as a parent, the only reason I would ever send my kid to a religious school that wasn't our religion is if we were in a place where there were, literally, no other options for a quality education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Madeira is your only all girls option.

It's the best option; but, Holton is also secular.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no reasonable justification for sending a Jewish kid to one of the single gender Catholic school in this area.

It's absurd. And kind of actively cruel for a parent to even consider. The educational options are not better and they will be actively practicing a religion that you don't ascribe to. And these aren't religious schools in history only, they are a pray before every class kind of religious school.

I can see why the school would admit you, they want your $ and probably think they can convert your kid.

But as a parent, the only reason I would ever send my kid to a religious school that wasn't our religion is if we were in a place where there were, literally, no other options for a quality education.

Our Catholic school is about 65% Catholic families, they are not trying to convert the other kids to our religion though they do go to the same religion classes. Our kids do not pray before every class and they have robust science classes. The families who aren't catholic send their kids there because the education is excellent and there are benefits of going to a single sex school.

I think your view of catholic education is outdated at best and somewhat bigoted.