Judaism and OUSD
I am in the process of ranking schools for my son who is entering Kindergarten this coming school year. I am ethnically Jewish and we celebrate some Jewish holidays at home. With the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, I’m wondering if there have been any issues with Jewish students experiencing anti-Semitism. I am 100% open to all perspectives on the war, but I am wondering whether appropriate opinions about the conflict could be inadvertently translated into inappropriate anti-Semitism when things distill down to kids in Kindergarten. I assume OUSD admin and teachers are trained to set the right tone on this stuff, but if anyone has had any negative experiences, I would be interested to hear them. Some of the schools we plan to ranking high include Crocker, Cleveland, Lincoln, and Sankofa. Thank you!
Parent Replies
I can only speak for Cleveland; our family also has one ethnically Jewish parent and celebrates the holidays. At school there basically hasn't been discussion about the Israel-Hamas war, nor the Russia-Ukraine conflict. My 3rd grader has heard about the war briefly from another Jewish friend at Cleveland, but my 1st grader (Kindergartener last year) had no idea except when we mentioned it.
Cleveland is multi-cultural however, and so teachers are always welcoming parents to come in and share their backgrounds, teach about specific holidays etc. Jewish parents have come in to share books, dreidls, latkes, etc. during different Jewish holidays. As have other parents when it comes to Divali, Ramadan, the Autumn Moon Festival, the Ethiopian New Year, Filipino History month, and so forth.
We also has a Cleveland Jewish families WhatsApp group for families to connect; concerns have been at the District/board meeting level, not with the elementary school. I hope this helps.
Wishing you luck in navigating this time with your little one. I don't have anything to offer, but I did just attend orientations for Cleveland and Lincoln this week and both at least from a theoretical perspective are on point with their positions about diversity and inclusion and emotional safety for all children.
Welcome to ousd! There have been a lot of problems and complains related to this issue and it has resulted in dozens of families getting inter district transfers to other nearby districts. However most of the concerns and complaints I have heard about are happening at the middle and senior high level. I’m at glenview and it’s been fantastic. Lots of open conversations, support for diversity, loving teachers of all backgrounds. Can’t recommend highly enough. I also think with the new administration folks are going to change focus on what they’re worried about and speaking out about.
You didn't mention Emerson, but my daughter is in kindergarten there this year and we have not experienced any issues. I know multiple of her classmates are Jewish or half-Jewish and haven't heard any concerns from any of them either. We love Emerson! Very diverse and welcoming community.