In our work with Episcopal schools throughout the country, it has become increasingly clear to us that those who serve in our schools’ admissions offices are, in so many ways, on the front line when it comes to explaining the Episcopal identity of the school. In response to that need, NAES began an Admissions Advisory Group in 2019, a small and experienced assemblage of admissions professionals from our schools who could help us better determine how we can be of more service to this important segment of a school community.
This advisory group has helped us in a variety of ways, including developing an initial draft of a principles of good practice for admissions professionals in Episcopal schools. Recently, the group has been discussing and developing a list of questions most frequently asked by parents about the nature and mission of Episcopal schools, as these parents go through the admissions process with their children.
We felt it important, at this juncture, to share that list with you. Our hope is that it can serve as a springboard for discussions within admissions offices, with parent guides, and among administrators as they consider the ways in which Episcopal identity, both on the individual school level as well as in affiliation with a larger community of schools, is explained to parents.
Please note two things about the assembled list: this is not a standard “Q&A” list, given that the questions have been articulated, but the answers have not; in so many ways, those are up to individual schools. NAES stands ready to be of help in any way we can as a school develops its own individual answers to many (particularly the school-specific group) of the questions, as well as how to understand and articulate answers to the more general questions on Episcopal schools.
Secondly, the list of questions, as they now stand, are grouped into four categories: school-specific questions; questions we refer to as “Christian questions,” meaning those questions increasingly asked by more conservative, frequently evangelical parents; pastoral questions, focused on the well-being of their children; and those that address the larger issue of what it means to be an Episcopal school, in relationship with other Episcopal schools.
We invite your input as we review and refine the questions, and hope you will find them useful in a variety of ways in equipping your admissions staff as well as the school community in general in better understanding and articulating this essential component of the mission of your school.
Admissions Q&A
School-specific questions
Do you have chapel? How often? Is it required?
What happens in chapel?
Do students have to participate/attend?
Do students pray (everyday)?
How is the eucharist/holy communion celebrated?
Are students required to take religion classes?
What will they be learning (in those classes)/What is taught?
How often is Christ mentioned?
How “religious” are you?
What is the religious makeup of your study body?
Do you have to be Episcopalian to attend the school?
How do you affirm a specific religion or faith tradition (such as that of the family) that is non-Christian?
How do you accommodate for a multi-faith family?
Will my child be proselytized?
“Christian” questions
Do you read the Bible in class?
Do the students memorize scripture?
Do you teach Critical Race Theory?
Do you teach evolution?
Pastoral questions
Will my child be known?
What do you do if a student is questioning their identity?
How are we (a family of color) going to be supported?
Will my child feel safe at your school?
How does your school handle discipline and bullying?
Episcopal identity questions
What does it mean to be an Episcopal school?
What does Episcopal mean?
What is particular about Episcopal identity? What is so different about its approach to Christianity?
Will I fit in as a Roman Catholic?
What if I am not Christian or Episcopalian?
What if I don’t go to church?
What does diversity mean in your school?
Do you have a curriculum that talks about race?