New York City's private school scene is famously woke. Students at Fieldston Ethical Culture were granted days off for emotional trauma around the November 5 election. Many schools are open for national holidays like Veterans Day, but closed for Diwali, Eid, and Rosh Hashanah.
Oh, and "Indigenous People's Day".
So when the Head of School at the Birch Wathen Lenox School penned an open letter to the NY Post about his school's pedagogical approach, many parental ears pricked up. Especially the ears attached to the heads of "cisgender", "heteronormative" "colonizers".
How did the Birch Wathen Lenox school get its students to start riding bikes, making dinner, and even trying their own mom's ethnic cooking? ("It looked bad but it tasted good!")
— Lenore Skenazy (@FreeRangeKids) October 11, 2024
A simple, FREE #LetGrow independence-building program:https://t.co/mHBoQ1Ppcn pic.twitter.com/WZGKjKczEt
Parents weary over mandatory ongoing education struggle sessions with highly compensated DEI staff--most of whom were hired in the wake of George Floyd's overdose death--will surely welcome Kuhn's message.
And his message is simple: Birch Wathen Lenox recognizes that DEI is divisive, "placing students into rigid roles that can drive them apart instead of bringing them together."
"At our school...we have embraced a different model – one that prioritizes constructive dialogue, intellectual rigor, and respect for diverse viewpoints," says Kuhn. "We avoid an identity-based curriculum that paints broad swaths of students in a single light. Instead, we promote a unified community that values diversity of thought, experience, and shared principles."
I was honored to give the commencement address at The Birch Wathen Lenox School that is committed to a rigorous traditional academic program. Congratulations Class of 2023 pic.twitter.com/EcAMrSQe52
— Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) May 26, 2023
In other words, removing the Marxist trappings of DEI, such as oppressor vs. oppressed. Instead, Birch Wathen Lenox treats children like students, not pawns on a politico-cultural chess board. For Jewish parents concerned about the upward-trending violence against Jews in the city, Kuhn runs this quick ad:
"This binary view denies any sense of agency and reduces personal growth to predetermined identity categories. Also worrisome: Traditional DEI efforts often ignore the long history and continued threat of antisemitism."
For the full letter, please click here.
Birch Wathen Lenox is located on the Upper East Side, on E. 77th St. between Second and Third Ave. The Manhattan wishes the students, Kuhn, the faculty, and the board of directors contued success, and congratulates them on their brave stand.
