Family School

Family School Enrollment Open for 2006-07 School Year

The Family School gives parents of interfaith families (Catholic and Jewish) a unique opportunity to become directly involved in their children’s religious education. Students from kindergarten to eighth-grade experience both Judaism and Catholicism at age-appropriate levels. Classes meet twice a month on Sunday mornings in the Frances Xavier Warde School on the campus of Old St. Patrick’s Church. For more information, please contact Chris Kopka at 847-279-3979 or crkopka@kopkalaw.com.

The Family School of Chicago was formed in 1993 by a group of seven families who met through the Jewish-Catholic Dialogue Group.    Today the school has grown to over 75 families and over 150 children from grades K-8.   Family School classes meet twice a month on Sunday mornings from 9:30-10:45 a.m. throughout the school year in the Frances Xavier Warde School on the campus of Old St. Patrick's Church.  

The school gives interfaith parents a unique opportunity to become directly involved in their children's religious education.   The Family School curriculum enables children to experience both Judaism and Catholicism at age-appropriate levels. The "problem" of interfaith religious formation has become, for these families, a chance to share with their children an understanding of God and what it means to share two different ways to experience God in our lives.

All classes are taught by parents on a rotating schedule, and all parents are required to teach two or three classes per year.   While children are in class, parents not teaching participate in an adult education program.   Some sessions feature speakers on a variety of topics; at other times the parents have a discussion related to the school itself.   Members of the Dialogue Group are invited to attend several adult education sessions each year.  

From the school's handbook:  

"We acknowledge that both Judaism and Catholicism are meaningful ways to find God. The Family School provides an avenue for the spiritual lives of our children and to enrich the spiritual lives of our families.

"The mission of our Family Religion School is to produce a setting where, on a regular basis, we will:

•  Convey to our children the stories, traditions, rituals and values of Judaism and of Catholic Christianity.

•  Explore with our children the common moral code and shared heritage of our two faiths, as well as their differences, and

•  Instill in our children a sense of belonging to our Jewish-Catholic community."

Family School is not intended to be a family's sole participation in religious activity.   By familiarizing children with holidays and rituals, stories from our traditions, prayers, and the teachings and histories of both faiths, Family School classes can help to complement a family's participation in Jewish services and/or Catholic Masses, or in more traditional forms of religious education.