Anonymous wrote:You haven't really answered the question of what "Episcopal" means, you just lament the fact that it is a dying denomination. I always thought Episcopalians represented the white, powerful, wealthy elite class in America. Perhaps that is unfair stereotype.

What is an "episcopal" school supposed to be and why do these schools fall short of the mark, in your opinion?

PP, while it is true that Episcopalians used to represent the white, powerful elite wealthy class, that is no longer the norm. Episcopalians are the US branch of the Church of England, so many of the first English settlers were Episcopalian. I do not come from a wealthy family, nor does my DH, but we both joined the Episcopal church as adults. Our congregation is very diverse and reflects the community where it is located.

Anonymous wrote:Good question, "Episcopal" really means nothing. There's blather at the front of the WES materials and website about what an "episcopal" school is supposed to be. It's just verbiage. WES has no parish affiliation which makes it even more confused. Whatever Episcopal Culture is left is rapidly dying: the number of national Episcopalians dropped below 2 million a year ago. It is now 1.6 million only - in the entire nation, which is why it cannot fix National Cathedral and why Bishop Schori is ordering the selling of the unused episcopal chapels. Really quite a shame.

The first order of business for a school should be to educate. If they supplement the culture of the school with religion to guide how people should treat one another that is their right. I feel that more and more schools are welcoming students of all faith and work to balance that with their particular religious aspirations. I suggest you visit the schools in question and ask the questions important to you. You will get a lot of opinions here, but a lot of those opinions are based on biases. Many people will form their opinion of a school based on hearsay and rumors. Only you can decide for yourself. Do the research, because your child may fit one environment better than another regardless of what you want. It is good to have your child visit the places, but unfortunately with school out for summer, that visit will not be as informative.

You haven't really answered the question of what "Episcopal" means, you just lament the fact that it is a dying denomination. I always thought Episcopalians represented the white, powerful, wealthy elite class in America. Perhaps that is unfair stereotype.

What is an "episcopal" school supposed to be and why do these schools fall short of the mark, in your opinion?

Good question, "Episcopal" really means nothing. There's blather at the front of the WES materials and website about what an "episcopal" school is supposed to be. It's just verbiage. WES has no parish affiliation which makes it even more confused. Whatever Episcopal Culture is left is rapidly dying: the number of national Episcopalians dropped below 2 million a year ago. It is now 1.6 million only - in the entire nation, which is why it cannot fix National Cathedral and why Bishop Schori is ordering the selling of the unused episcopal chapels. Really quite a shame.

OP, what do you mean by a stronger Episcopal culture?

We looked at both and chose WES. We know people from our church who attend all of the Episcopal schools in the area. None of them are "conservative" in the religious sense. Our DC fell in love with WES at the shadow day, even though we were prepared to send DC to St. Andrew's. I suggest you tour all and involve your DC in the decision. How old is your child?

Anonymous wrote:9:39 again. St. Andrew's and St. Patrick's are very good suggestions.

I am the original poster. We visited St. Patrick's and were impressed. I like that it is a parish school. We will probably send our DS there. Thank you to those who offered your opinions.

Anonymous wrote:We are a SAES family, and Episcopalian. We looked at WES, but felt that SAES was a better fit for our DD. My impression is that WES is more traditional and conservative, whereas SAES leans more towards the progressive. Like other Episcopal schools, SAES welcomes families of any faith tradition, and DD has Jewish, Muslim and Catholic friends as well as Episcopalian. Chapel and religion courses are an important component to the SAES curriculum, but again, there are families of many different faiths there, and often their traditions are recognized during Chapel.

WES also welcomes families of all faiths. Holds chapel and religion courses. You must not have looked too closely.

9:39 again. St. Andrew's and St. Patrick's are very good suggestions.

Have you considered St. Patricks?

Thank you for the helpful responses. We would like a progressive education but strong Episcopal culture. We would prefer a chaplain that is a priest.

We are an Episcopalian family and looked at both and we chose WES. We liked being able to start in Nursery at WES and also liked the idea of being able to make a change for high school by design (N through 8).

WES has gone through a couple of chaplains. The last one was there less than one year and now there is some grumbling about the new one not being ordained (but I don't know if that is true or not.)

We are a SAES family, and Episcopalian. We looked at WES, but felt that SAES was a better fit for our DD. My impression is that WES is more traditional and conservative, whereas SAES leans more towards the progressive. Like other Episcopal schools, SAES welcomes families of any faith tradition, and DD has Jewish, Muslim and Catholic friends as well as Episcopalian. Chapel and religion courses are an important component to the SAES curriculum, but again, there are families of many different faiths there, and often their traditions are recognized during Chapel.

We are an Episcopal family, and we are looking for a school with a solid Episcopal identity. Does anyone know which school has a stronger Episcopal culture - WES or St. Andrews?