Nurturing the spirit of all faiths and traditions
What unites us is our desire to raise dynamic kids with a strong moral compass. What defines us is our quest to discover how we are each uniquely called to serve the world.
Rooted in the Episcopal tradition, which encourages and fosters inclusion, EDS comprises a diverse population of students, families, and faculty. Clear about our own identity as an Episcopal parish day school, EDS views the contributions of children and families of other faith traditions as a source of richness and strength. Our worship, grounded in those same Episcopal traditions, invites praise, inspires prayer, encourages reflection, and sends us each out to love and serve the Lord in our own way.
In religion classrooms, through Godly Play, Bible, and World Religions curricula we thoughtfully engage our faith through student-centered learning and discovery. Challenged by our growth in class, chapels, and community service, we are committed to reaching out wherever we discern need in the local community and the world. Outreach opportunities enable us to promote the moral and spiritual growth of our students, regardless of their faith traditions, as we endeavor to teach students to lead lives of purpose, faith, and integrity.
Finally, our faith finds its truest fulfillment in the many ways in which we show love, compassion, and empathy for one another.
The following excerpt from “The Idea of an Episcopal School” captures our identity as a Christian School in the Episcopal Tradition:
What is an Episcopal school?
Episcopalians, like all Christians, believe that our life is founded on the life of Jesus, and that as a Church, we are called to offer the redeeming love of God to all people.
Episcopal schools are concrete expressions of the Church’s care for young people and their families, and of the belief that God calls us to love all of God’s children. What Episcopal schools strive for, teach, believe, emphasis and cultivate, grows out of present needs and looks forward to the demands of the future.
An Episcopal school is comprehensive and inclusive
The Episcopal Church encourages respect for the other person’s beliefs. Therefore, an Episcopal school should not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, or national origin, and should actively seek out faculty and students of diverse backgrounds and traditions. We do so in the belief that they bring something to be valued and respected, and because we wish to be broadly inclusive of the community we serve. An Episcopal school looks for values that unite people rather than those that divide.
The unity of an Episcopal school is based on rite and tradition
In an Episcopal school there likely will be no list of rules that define who we must be as a community. Every member of the community should be able to join in celebrating the life of the community in some ritual way (formal or informal), as it embodies a sacramental principle dear to us: God makes sacred the things of this world as they are offered to God in worship.
An Episcopal school values reason as a way to true understanding
In the Episcopal tradition, learning is important not to find the right answers to be used against others, but in order to arrive at God’s truth. An Episcopal education will raise issues of meaning, identity, and ultimate truth at every opportunity in all parts of its program, but will also acknowledge the limits of human reason.
An Episcopal school has a concern for the well being of society
An Episcopal school will help children understand that they do not exist apart from society, that society’s issues are their issues, and that they are called upon to respond to the needs of others.
An Episcopal school is founded on love
Love for students, for their value as children of God, for their unique gifts, must be the foundation of all we do. We must act out of love, teach love, model love, and love one another in our community above all else. Without this love, all else is meaningless.