Jewish students in DCPS

[Anonymous]

For those raising Jewish families, how has your experience been in DC public schools with regard to finding community and other families, taking religious holidays off, and encountering any anti-senitisim?

Are there any schools that tend to have larger than average populations of Jewish students in the traditional public school system?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those raising Jewish families, how has your experience been in DC public schools with regard to finding community and other families, taking religious holidays off, and encountering any anti-senitisim?

Are there any schools that tend to have larger than average populations of Jewish students in the traditional public school system?

Look where the synagogues are clustered. The families are not far from there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those raising Jewish families, how has your experience been in DC public schools with regard to finding community and other families, taking religious holidays off, and encountering any anti-senitisim?

Are there any schools that tend to have larger than average populations of Jewish students in the traditional public school system?

Look at the Wilson feeders and Capitol Hill elementary schools

DCPS gives excused absences for all those who do not attend schools for religious holidays, no matter the religion.

[Anonymous]

Schools feeding into Wilson tend to have more Jews.

[Anonymous]

We aren’t Jewish but we have a good number of Jewish families in school with us at Powell. Some of our Jewish friends are at Creative Minds. I think everyone I’ve heard from likes their respective choices for schools. This is in Petworth if you hadn’t guessed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those raising Jewish families, how has your experience been in DC public schools with regard to finding community and other families, taking religious holidays off, and encountering any anti-senitisim?

Are there any schools that tend to have larger than average populations of Jewish students in the traditional public school system?

Look at the Wilson feeders and Capitol Hill elementary schools

DCPS gives excused absences for all those who do not attend schools for religious holidays, no matter the religion.

Which Cap Hill elementaries have large Jewish populations?

[Anonymous]

We are at a charter - it is fine. There are other Jewish kids in their classes and it has been a non-issue. I wish schools were closed for the Jewish holidays but I get that there aren't enough Jewish kids/teachers here to justify it.

[Anonymous]

Our JKLM is at least 25-30% Jewish. Maybe more. Lots of Jewish teachers as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our JKLM is at least 25-30% Jewish. Maybe more. Lots of Jewish teachers as well.

Same experience for my kids at a JKLM school.

[Anonymous]

We are at a jklm. We are far from the only jews, but it's not close to a quarter. This year, my DS missed a test on Yom Kippur. He's only in elementary school so it didn't matter, but it's annoying. A special evening event was planned for purim. Again, not a big deal, but still disappointing. Last year there was a food based activity during passover.

So a bunch 9f little, thoughtless things that remind me that we're a minority, but nothing actually anti-semitic.

[Anonymous]

To the person who asked which Cap Hill schools have large populations, my child’s grade at SWS is 15% Jewish but I think it varies a lot by grade.

At Yavneh we’ve met plenty of Jewish kids from Brent, Maury and the Cluster. Plus Capitol Day.

Within a block of my house there are over a dozen Jewish kids. When we bought a decade ago there were two Jewish kids within a block.

[Anonymous]

I think that schools as a whole are very unaware of religious holidays.

Having key school events on Yom Kippur or Eid al-Fitr or Diwali is disrespectful to someone. The reality is that the public government system and the work structures in the US is based on Christian beliefs - government offices closed on Sundays / weekends are Sat. Sun based on keeping the Sabbath Holy.

[Anonymous]

Catholic dad here too: Lent Fridays and meat for the kids make me totally sympathize as well.

I feel like it’d be easy to have a panel to check in with on this. And a lot of it is public information. Taking a little care would be enough. Maybe even like a checklist would be enough. Check religious calendars for days off, for student dietary restrictions, when to place testing . . . Not sure what else but it feels like we should be beyond amateur hour here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Catholic dad here too: Lent Fridays and meat for the kids make me totally sympathize as well.

I feel like it’d be easy to have a panel to check in with on this. And a lot of it is public information. Taking a little care would be enough. Maybe even like a checklist would be enough. Check religious calendars for days off, for student dietary restrictions, when to place testing . . . Not sure what else but it feels like we should be beyond amateur hour here.

If you acknowledged or worked around every holiday, there would be zero days for learning. Are you suggesting just the top 3 religions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Catholic dad here too: Lent Fridays and meat for the kids make me totally sympathize as well.

I feel like it’d be easy to have a panel to check in with on this. And a lot of it is public information. Taking a little care would be enough. Maybe even like a checklist would be enough. Check religious calendars for days off, for student dietary restrictions, when to place testing . . . Not sure what else but it feels like we should be beyond amateur hour here.

And Easter Holidays are a mess. Apparently Emancipation Day is more important that the death and resurrection of a certain person beloved by 2 billion people.