Anonymous wrote:here are some facts to inform the discussion.

Race/ethnicity numbers from the Dept of Education (seemingly whole school, not just lower):
GDS: 3 78 190 51 698
(AmInd/Asian/Black/Hispanic/White)

Given the total, this appears to be stat where each kid has to be assigned to one category but the categories aren't mutually exclusive. I wonder who makes the call (family vs. administration) and how (e.g. when there are two kids whose mom is from Latin America and whose Dad is from South Asia, do we have 1 Hispanic and 1 Asian? 2 Hispanics? 2 Asians? Is the boy with the AA dad and the Hispanic mom Black or Hispanic?). At a purely anecdotal level, most of the Hispanic kids I know at GDS have one parent who isn't Hispanic. And half of the Asian kids have one parent who isn't Asian.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: There have been 3-4 Asian children and 3-4 Black or biracial children.

How does this translate into "hardly any" Asian kids yet "very good numbers" of African American students?

I didn't make the statement about "hardly any" Asian kids yet "very good numbers" of African American students. That was a different poster.

Anonymous wrote: There have been 3-4 Asian children and 3-4 Black or biracial children.

How does this translate into "hardly any" Asian kids yet "very good numbers" of African American students?

Anonymous wrote:Geez, it's starting to feel like Thanksgiving dinner with Grammy Hall in here.

No, GDS is not 50% Jewish. Yes, at this point Latinos are under-represented (both among students and faculty). But 1/4 of the kids in my DC's homeroom are Asian, so "hardly any East Asians or Indians" seems off base to me. Lots of biracial/bicultural kids. As 22:30 says, just visit the school (both campuses) and you'll see that the student body is diverse.

Coming from a public school background, I've been struck at how much religion I see at GDS -- basically, it's a comparative religion approach rather than a theological or secular one. Shows up in the curriculum as well as things like assemblies. And includes non-Western as well as Judeo-Christian belief systems.

I'm not sure what the Grammy Hall reference is about. I'm a current GDS parent. We have been at the school for 5 years. In each of those years, roughly 40-50% of our child's grade (not just class) has been Jewish. There have been 3-4 Asian children and 3-4 Black or biracial children. I have no commentary on whether this is a good thing or a bad thing or even typical of the school as a whole. It is what it is. We do like the curriculum and community at GDS. However, with the large population of Jewish families, GDS does not feel as secular as it should. For example, Passover is the only religious observation that GDS (versus parent volunteers) funds (meaning spends money to cater). Unlike other schools, GDS is a parent cooperative. As a PP mentioned the board is largely made up of Jewish members, the new head of school is Jewish, and his wife is a rabbi. I do worry about how the leadership will impact the culture of the school going forward. I have always worried about whether my DC will feel excluded when the bar and bat mitzvahs start. Many of DC's friends make qualifying statements like "besides, I'm Jewish" in general conversation about things. As I said, we're happy with the education that DC is receiving. But I don't think GDS is as diverse (ethnically or religiously) as its mission suggests.

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that GDS may not be as diverse as so often touted.

I have no opinion on whether or not GDS is diverse, but here are some facts to inform the discussion.

Race/ethnicity numbers from the Dept of Education (seemingly whole school, not just lower):
GDS: 3 78 190 51 698
(AmInd/Asian/Black/Hispanic/White)

I could not find figures for Beauvoir. If you're interested in comparing other schools, here is a link for that: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pss/privateschoolsearch/

Anonymous wrote:Geez, it's starting to feel like Thanksgiving dinner with Grammy Hall in here.

No, GDS is not 50% Jewish. Yes, at this point Latinos are under-represented (both among students and faculty). But 1/4 of the kids in my DC's homeroom are Asian, so "hardly any East Asians or Indians" seems off base to me. Lots of biracial/bicultural kids. As 22:30 says, just visit the school (both campuses) and you'll see that the student body is diverse.

Coming from a public school background, I've been struck at how much religion I see at GDS -- basically, it's a comparative religion approach rather than a theological or secular one. Shows up in the curriculum as well as things like assemblies. And includes non-Western as well as Judeo-Christian belief systems.

I think this point about diversity of the student body is especially true in the lower school. And as these children advance, you will see this diversity in the upper levels.

Geez, it's starting to feel like Thanksgiving dinner with Grammy Hall in here.

No, GDS is not 50% Jewish. Yes, at this point Latinos are under-represented (both among students and faculty). But 1/4 of the kids in my DC's homeroom are Asian, so "hardly any East Asians or Indians" seems off base to me. Lots of biracial/bicultural kids. As 22:30 says, just visit the school (both campuses) and you'll see that the student body is diverse.

Coming from a public school background, I've been struck at how much religion I see at GDS -- basically, it's a comparative religion approach rather than a theological or secular one. Shows up in the curriculum as well as things like assemblies. And includes non-Western as well as Judeo-Christian belief systems.

GDS parent here. Overall, I love the school. I don't have the numbers. Here is what I see. There is an extremely large percentage of Jewish students. It may not be 50% but it is 30-40% Jewish. I am also curious now what the actual percentage is. Perhaps it is 50%. It would not be a shock to me. Many many children from Adas Israel preschool. There are concerns about the new head because he quoted things in Yiddish when he came for his selection meetings. Concerns expressed by Jewish and non-Jewish parents I should add in case people cry anti-Semitism. People aren't that interested in having an overtly Jewish head. Most parents didn't want to hear any religious text quoted, period. There are hardly any East Asians or Indians at the school. Very good numbers of African American students; not so good on Latinos.

Anonymous wrote:My understanding is that GDS may not be as diverse as so often touted. In speaking with a current GDS parent, they noted that the GDS student population is conservatively 50% Jewish, and the the current governing Board makeup has a higher percentage. The newly selected Head of School is Jewish and his wife is apparently a Rabbi. She felt that representation of non-white minorities was much lower than would be expected.

I am not by any means bigoted, nor is my friend, but I found it very interesting and odd that she explained the school to me in this way. It ws as if it these demographics were a well-kept secret that most did not "see." She likes the school says it works for her kids.

I don't know how much of this is factual. I'm simply conveying what I was told.

I would like to see the numbers. The new head of school's wife may be a rabbi, but he himself is coming from a Quaker school. I saw a lot of children of color the times that I have visited, so unless there's been a sudden increase in Jewish kids of South Asian or African American or East Asian descent, I would be surprised to lean that half of the school is actually Jewish. I would not be surprised that Jews make up a large minority, but 50% is doubtful.

My understanding is that GDS may not be as diverse as so often touted. In speaking with a current GDS parent, they noted that the GDS student population is conservatively 50% Jewish, and the the current governing Board makeup has a higher percentage. The newly selected Head of School is Jewish and his wife is apparently a Rabbi. She felt that representation of non-white minorities was much lower than would be expected.

I am not by any means bigoted, nor is my friend, but I found it very interesting and odd that she explained the school to me in this way. It ws as if it these demographics were a well-kept secret that most did not "see." She likes the school says it works for her kids.

I don't know how much of this is factual. I'm simply conveying what I was told.

Re is 4 the right age to introduce sexual orientation

To me, earlier is better for two reasons. One is that it's already there -- assuming you have family, friends, or classmates' parents who are gay or lesbian. So you either treat these people as deviations from a norm or you define the norm (family) more inclusively from the beginning. I'm strongly in favor of the latter approach.

Secondly, gender norms get enforced from a very early age and you see taunting (of the sort whose build-up can lead to teen suicide at a later age) very young. My DC had an old friend try to drive her new friend away by running around the playground singing the old X and Y sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G song and claiming DC and new friend loved each other so much they probably wanted to get married. New friend responded "That's silly; two girls can't get married." DC piped up "Except in Massachusetts!" This was first grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am all for open minds about sexual orientation. But from what I heard GDS takes it to a different level in the lower school and that out of respect for sexual orientation, children read stories where there are two princes who fall in love. I'm not sure I want my child learning about sexual orientation like this.

Also I heard from a friend who sends her sons there, there are special bathrooms for transgender children. Is there any truth to this??

According to a Kinsey report, one-third of teens who commit suicide are gay, yet they only comprise ten percent of the population. How wonderful it is that GDS children are able to be in a supportive and inclusive environment. Probably not perfect, but much better than some of the horrors gay children are exposed to in less tolerant environments.

I think it's wonderful too. But, is the 4 years old the age to start to introducing sexual orientation to all children?

Anonymous wrote:9:00 -- I find it hard to keep a straight face when being lectured on establishing notions of privilege by a parent of private school kid ($30K+? per year school). If that is an important value to you there are many many schools in this city which would teach lessons on privilege in a much more experiential way and where your energy (and $30+K a year) would go a long way helping provide opportunities for others.

An economically and racially diverse school that does not directly/explicitly address issues of privilege may teach very different lessons than you want your kids to learn. I've certainly watched kids come away from public school experiences thinking that more affluent families are more affluent because they are smarter and more hard-working than poor families. Or that academic excellence is a "white" value.

Anonymous wrote:I am all for open minds about sexual orientation. But from what I heard GDS takes it to a different level in the lower school and that out of respect for sexual orientation, children read stories where there are two princes who fall in love. I'm not sure I want my child learning about sexual orientation like this.

Also I heard from a friend who sends her sons there, there are special bathrooms for transgender children. Is there any truth to this??

According to a Kinsey report, one-third of teens who commit suicide are gay, yet they only comprise ten percent of the population. How wonderful it is that GDS children are able to be in a supportive and inclusive environment. Probably not perfect, but much better than some of the horrors gay children are exposed to in less tolerant environments.

Anonymous wrote:I could not have been more proud when my 5 year old, on the way to GDS this morning, asked me if I was born during the Jim Crow laws. And then we discussed how lucky we are that we weren't born at that time. How cool is that?

Then again, you can always pop in your Wheels on the Bus CD.

Love this!