Anonymous wrote:We are debating sending our DD to The Gan. It is close to our home. It lines up with our parenting and teaching philosophy. We love their values. Only challenge is that we are not a Jewish. (We consider ourselves Unitarians).

Your thoughts?

I am not familiar with preschools anymore. We are UU. However, I did consider sending my children to Rodef Shalom preschool in McLean; it is Reform and the preschool advertises that it is for all faiths. Reform and UU have many overlaps.

In the end, we chose a non-affiliated preschool, but it turned out the have Christian overtones- like grace before snack that was not advertised. I think Rodef Shalom would have been a better fit for us.

Anonymous wrote:I'm not Catholic and my oldest went to a Catholic school for a few years. We're non-denominiation and my youngest went to a Baptist preschool. But for some reason, I wouldn't send my kids to a Jewish school. I can't actually put a reason behind it, other than when we lived in a very Jewish community in Florida, though my kids had close Jewish friends, they seemed to have a very tight clique and many activities that only the other "Jew-crew" members were invited to. (That was their nickname for themselves, not my creation.)

+1

I think no, unless you convert.

No. I was raised Jewish and did K-3 at a Jewish school. I was singled out for having Catholic grandparents on one side. There was a whole lot of talk about how special and unique the Jewish people are, with the clear implication that others were less.

School schedules revolved around Jewish holidays and Shabbat, and any non observer would feel left out. I actually felt lonely when I realized my teachers didn't appreciate my sharing my excitement about Christmas with my grandparents.

From an educational perspective, Hebrew is not worth your kids' time. There are only 9 million Hebrew speakers worldwide, of whom 8 million live in Israel. There are a couple of hundred thousand native Hebrew speakers in the whole US. Access to a second language is great but this one has so little practical application outside of religious practice.

Can't think of any reason to send a non-Jewish kid unless there were no other high-quality options.

The other children will not be accepting. Don't do this to your kid. Move if need be.

As long as they were accepting of my gay family I would. My child would not attend Catholic school for this reason.

I would, provided the environment placed more emphasis on education than on religion. Jewish people I've known in this country tend to be extremely secular - I would assume a Jewish school would be similar.

Is the Gan the preschool at Adas Israel?

I would say if you consider yourselves UU, a jewish school would be a better choice than catholic school, if you go the religious school route.

I suggest meeting with the administrators and also see if you can talk with other non-jewish families that attend.

I wouldn't be against it, though I wonder how much of the curriculum is religious based? I went to small Catholic schools through high school. There were a few non Catholics in my grade; they just had study hall or independent projects during the time the Catholic students were in "religion" class or attended mass. They went to the Catholic school because, in our area, it was the best educational opportunity.

Anonymous wrote:No. I would never send my kids to a Jewish school as a non Jew. Same with Catholic school or Islamic school. Too much nonsense and noise about something we don;t believe in or follow.

+1 We did a Christian preschool for a year and hated it.

No. I would never send my kids to a Jewish school as a non Jew. Same with Catholic school or Islamic school. Too much nonsense and noise about something we don;t believe in or follow.

I'm not Catholic and my oldest went to a Catholic school for a few years. We're non-denominiation and my youngest went to a Baptist preschool. But for some reason, I wouldn't send my kids to a Jewish school. I can't actually put a reason behind it, other than when we lived in a very Jewish community in Florida, though my kids had close Jewish friends, they seemed to have a very tight clique and many activities that only the other "Jew-crew" members were invited to. (That was their nickname for themselves, not my creation.)

Convert first. Otherwise sending your kid to a school where he's made to feel like goyim is cruel.

We are debating sending our DD to The Gan. It is close to our home. It lines up with our parenting and teaching philosophy. We love their values. Only challenge is that we are not a Jewish. (We consider ourselves Unitarians).

Your thoughts?