Reply to St. Andrews Episcopal school and rigor

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Sorry if this is a dumb question, but how does the school do with children from diverse religious backgrounds? If you're not Christian, will your family feel comfortable there? How religious is the E part of SAES?[/quote]

This is a great question, and one that any prospective family should ask when considering a school based in a faith tradition.

Ours is a current SAES family, affiliated and active in the Reform Jewish movement. Our children attended religious school from K through HS and are active in our congregation’s youth group. Our children and family have found ourselves warmly welcome in the SAES community and attribute our SAES affiliation with a deepening of our own faith and community social action practices. We also have an anecdotal sense that the number of faculty, staff, and students who affiliate as Jewish or Jewish/other interfaith are significantly greater than the 10% SAES references in their promotional materials.

SAES is every bit as welcoming as they say in their recruitment materials. That said, it is also dedicated to its traditions as an Episcopal School. Religious practices at the school are clearly Christian, but they are in no ways exclusionary or offensive to those who’s faith traditions differ.  One has to be comfortable hearing references to Jesus and the trinity. With last year’s unexpected departure of a long time school chaplain, references have grown from what Reverend Alexander used to lightheartedly refer to as “the twice a year” reference to Jesus: convocation and commencement to Reverend Isaacs’ preference for much more frequent reference to the trinity. Would we prefer the former, sure. Are we put off by the return to slightly more traditional texts, not at all. And when a newly appointed  full time chaplain is brought in, they will likely embrace the school’s progressive values and bring their own approach to references of faith.

As with all topics related to comfort with a school, the only real way to assess is to visit and witness the programs for yourself. SAES open houses and the like are as authentic and true to form as it gets  in showing what it’s like to be at the school. Visit soon and often and make your own assessment.  You are bound to be impressed by the SAES community. [/quote]

Hi to the family who posted above.  We were a Jewish family when the last Chaplain joined SAES and we had the same concern about her style when she started compared to her predecessor.  Now that the school year is half over, I encourage your children (if old enough) or you to talk about this with the new chaplain.  Our kids and several others had some very productive discussions with her they eventually led to some changes in style that we found more comfortable.  Sometimes chaplains really don’t understand how certain phrases can be heard/felt by a student who is not raised in their faith and when they do, constructive dialogue and changes can tskemplsceX

Curious - As an agnostic, I have no dog in this. But...Why choose a Christian school in the first place?  Would you be ok with a Christian family coming to a Jewish school and asking the Rabbi to speak differently about Judaism just to appease them?  Inclusivity is fine and all that, but this is an Episcopal school after all. Actively working to alter a faith-based school’s expression of belief to meet your own needs seems very presumptuous and is a slippery slope towards watering down the school’s religious voice.

Fair question, but there is a clear distinction.  The Episcopal Schools pride themselves on their inclusivity and are often criticized by more heavy faith believers as "religion lite" That is a choice those schools make in their curriculum, admissions, etc.  The religion requirement at SAES in middle and high school consisted of one trimester per year of religion, and by high school that was satisfied with classes in justice, classical philosophy, and other subjects beyond theology.  SAES was nothing remotely like, for example, what I understand to be the case of many Catholic schools (to which I would never send my children for the reasons you suggest).  At SAES, probably close to half the students identify as agnostic or, if they identify with an organized Christian faith, say they are not religious.  Something like 11-12% of the students are usually said to identify as Jewish, but there were a number of mixed marriages where one parent was Jewish but the child wasn't being raised in any particular faith.  For example, at one time a visiting chaplain enthusiastically urged the students to speak louder and with more vigor during responsive reading -- chiding them for being reticent. When it was pointed out to the chaplain that a very large number of students at the school did not adhere to the beliefs they were being admonished for not saying loudly, it didn't take that long for the chaplain to come to realize how inappropriate it was to use a pulpit in that way and apologies were conveyed that this guest speaker wasn't with the program.   Contrast this was a Jewish day school.  The major ones in this area that are not orthodox have a stated curriculum that is something like 40% Judaic studies, including studying Hebrew language and prayers. So of course I wouldn't expect that school to stop teaching those subjects to a Christian student who attends - you attend such a school because you want that curriculum.  The analogy for SAES is that all students must attend chapel.  You do not need to take communion, you do not need to recite prayers you don't believe in, but you are not excused from attending.   During our time there, the Chaplain found it acceptable to often refer to God where she often used to refer to Jesus.  Jesus certainly made an occasional appearance in the liturgy, but my sense was no more than necessary theologically.

As for your first question, we choose SAES originally in spite of its religious affiliation, not because of it.  Over time, however, we came to appreciate that a light religious grounding really contributed to warmth of the school and so many of the students.  We were much happier and felt more welcomed there than at a progressive, secular school where my children attended before SAES.  SAES affirmatively respected religion -- all religions -- more than the secular school.

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