Day School, part 2

[rhu]

Thanks to gnomi for conducting a YALP ("Yet Another Language Poll") for me over on her blog. Between that and some asking around at work today, I've verified my hypothesis to my satisfaction: most people use the term "private school", and sometimes boarding schools will have "day students", but most people don't use the term "day school."

The exception, at least among our sample (and it was more than thirty people, so it's statistically valid, right? :-), was that many Jews use the term "day school" to mean specifically a Jewish private school; in this context, "day school" differentiates itself from "Hebrew school".

But it's also a cultural shorthand, perhaps even a code. When an administrator at last night's JCDS curriculum night said "My three daughters are day school graduates" as part of her bio, she was telling us something about her family's attitude toward Jewish education. She doesn't just work at a Day School, she walks the walk.

There's a subtle but present divide between those who are the products of a Day School and those who are not. (I'm in the latter category, if you are wondering. Proud product of the Hillcrest Jewish Center Hebrew School.) It crosses denominational lines --- a student at the Rashi school (a local Reform day school) has it as much as one from Maimonides (Orthodox). I think it provides a different worldview; one that I can only glimpse from the outside, but one that I hope my children absorb.

Comments

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see my post on gnomi's blog.