How is to not be Jewish at GDS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you dont want to hear about god or have a focus on religion, you should look at Landon or Sidwell. Sidwell, while Quaker, is spiritual and about good values rather than about a specific religion. Landon is non denominational. with a religiously diverse student body.

Yes, and Landon has a lovely holiday concert that features Christian, Jewish, Kwanza, and other songs.

[Anonymous]

We are Catholic and our kid attend GDS. We LOVE the fact that all major religions/traditions are celebrated in a big way through the Assemblies and daily throughout the year. They all have a theme. Peace, Freedom, Tolerance, etc. Our 6 year old knows all about Diwali, Eid, Passover, Kwanzaa, Chinese New Year, Dia de los Muertos, Thanksgiving you name it. My favorite assembly is the one dedicated to MLK. Through this exposure our child has learned so much about the world.
Yes, a lot of the kids in her class are Jewish but so far the only way it has ever affected her in any way is that a lot of the kids are absent on Jewish holidays.
We have always felt very welcome. Regardless of our religion, ethnicity, background, income, all pretty diverse in our particular case.

[Anonymous]

GDS is very Jewish. Just the reality of the school and not good or bad.

[Anonymous]

How about, we make everyone read Winnie the Pooh?

[Anonymous]

Shouldn't our kids be exposed and understand all religions? Otherwise, how can you understand world history, politics, the arts, etc.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't our kids be exposed and understand all religions? Otherwise, how can you understand world history, politics, the arts, etc.?

ITA. This is one MAJOR flaw of public school--it's hard to teach religion (though it's constitutional within the context of, say, history class), so many, many public schools just avoid teaching religions altogether.

[Anonymous]

Its tough to actually teach all religions because of lack of knowledge and lack of representation. I am sure that is why GDS focuses on Christian and Jewish holidays. There is a passing acknowledgement of Diwali or Eid depending on the year and whether there is a willing parent to put together an assembly. But GDS doesn't teach about Islam or Hinduism, with any coherence. And both of those are major world religions. I know my kids only know nothing about the Buddha, not quite a minor figure either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: But GDS doesn't teach about Islam or Hinduism, with any coherence. And both of those are major world religions. I know my kids only know nothing about the Buddha, not quite a minor figure either.

I beg to differ, but it could be because of the grade(s) your and my child have been through. In sixth and seventh grade there is a huge emphasis on world religions, including Muslim and Buddhism. In 9th grade as well. These are not taught in "chapel" but in history class. Quite effective, though I suppose depends on the kid how much they absorb.

[Anonymous]

Islam--the religion is Islam.

Muslim--the people who follow the religion of Islam.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shouldn't our kids be exposed and understand all religions? Otherwise, how can you understand world history, politics, the arts, etc.?

ITA. This is one MAJOR flaw of public school--it's hard to teach religion (though it's constitutional within the context of, say, history class), so many, many public schools just avoid teaching religions altogether.

Not sure this is true - I went to public school in this area (Fairfax county) and learned about major world religions in history class, including Hinduism and Buddhism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP - thank you for all replies. I just wanted to add that when we toured Sidwell and Cathedral schools, it was obvious that both had a religious slant be it Quaker or Episcopal. But we'd thought GDS would be non-denominational and then found that Christmas and Passover were two of the 5 major assemblies. I should have probably written Judeo-Christian, PPs are correct. It seemed that if there was a bit of a religious slant at GDS it was more Jewish and Christian because of its history. We admire the history by the way. Very much. And are attracted by the school's values of respect and tolerance for all. Still wondering a bit what its like for families, and there probably aren't many, that are not from the Judeo-Christian traditions. Those kids and their families still don't see their religious tradition reflected in the big school assemblies. That has to create a feeling of being lesser. We're practically agnostics, but culturally our family is mostly not Judeo-Christian.

We're atheists and quite happy at the school. FWIW, a substantial minority DC's friends don't come from Judeo-Christian backgrounds and don't seem uncomfortable with the religious pluralism at the school. There are also smaller assemblies (e.g. including all the lower school kids but not all the parents) on other religions/cultures/holidays (Diwali, Eid, and Chinese New Year come to mind) as well as classroom sharing of family traditions. And the middle school curriculum includes a major unit on Islam in 7th grade as well as a series of smaller units on different Asian (mostly Indian and Chinese) religions in 6th.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Islam--the religion is Islam.

Muslim--the people who follow the religion of Islam.

Yes, my mistake.

[Anonymous]

13:08 again. What was hard for my DC was having no coherent ethnic or religious identity -- e.g. coming from a family where folks on both sides came from different places, for different reasons, at different times, and happily assimilated to life in the US generations before DC was born. No one was religious, no one was invested in an ethnic identity, and any epic story of the journey to America had been lost in the mists of time and/or apathy.

PreK-6th at GDS is full of discussions of identity (as an age-appropriate model for social studies) and my DC came away feeling like she had none because the categories were typically religious, nationalistic/ethnic/racial, and historical. Far easier (and much cooler) at GDS to be different in an easily categorizable way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:GDS is very Jewish. Just the reality of the school and not good or bad.

Yes, GDS is very Jewish. There are several instances where homework is not assigned during Jewish holidays due to many students being absent. I have always found this to be quite ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Whereas not assigning homework over the Christmas holiday is just plain common sense....