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Currently, my school-a grade four through nine boys day school-- makes
school wide accommodations to account for the large portions of boys in
our community who observe the Jewish holidays of Yom Kippur, Rosh
Hashanah and Passover and the holidays of Good Friday and Easter
observed by some Christian religions. As we are in session for all of
these holidays when they fall on a weekday, our accommodations include
assigning no homework on the evenings when these celebrations occur and
prohibiting the administration of significant assessments (tests,
presentations, papers, etc.) the day of (Good Friday) or the day
immediately following these holidays. For students whose religious
practices include observing holidays not on this list, we will make
accommodations that include extensions of deadlines or excusing boys
from the assignment if we are informed by the boy or his
parents/guardians that he celebrates a particular religious holiday.
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If you could provide me with a quick response to each of the following
questions, I would appreciate your assistance.
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1. Does your school community make any accommodations with regard
to homework or assessments for students observing religious holidays?
If yes, please share these accommodations.
2. How are these accommodations granted? Are they applied school
wide regardless of how many students are actually observing the
holiday? Or, must students and/or their parents/guardians take the
initiative to request these accommodations.
3. How supportive are your faculty of the practice of making
accommodations for observance of religious holidays?
4. How supportive are the parents/guardians of your school's
policy in this regard (please respond regardless of whether or not your
school makes accommodations).
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Thank you, again, for your assistance and please feel free to share any
anecdotes or offer any additional advice on matters I have not addressed
above.
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Sincerely,
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Steve
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Stephen Farley
Director of the Academic Program
The Fenn School
516 Monument Street
Concord, MA 01742
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