<p>I was thinking back on our visits so far and I have been asking if transportation is available for students to attend religious services. Most have said "oh yes, we have xyz in place...." (so far we've only been to one religious affiliated school). I was thinking I probably dind't need to ask the question as it seemed really basic.<br>
However, one school said "All the churches are within walking distance, the students can walk if they want." When I must have had a blank look, he went on to say "usually there is a faculty member that goes to any given service as well." But it was nothing organized. </p>
<p>So, we will continue to ask and I would urge anyone else to ask if it is something that is of importance to you.</p>
<p>Absolutely…that’s often not on their radar. And it’s not something they will offer to talk about as broaching the subject is likely to come across to most parents as bad form or give rise to concerns that the school was probing for information they could use to discriminate against their child. So if it’s going to be talked about, you’re going to have to be the one to raise it – unless, that is, your religious denomination is the one that the school is – or was – affiliated with.</p>
<p>But do your homework, too. Don’t just show up for the interview and throw out questions about your religious denomination, and expect the AdCom to rattle off the service times and the number of people who actually participate in those services like a concierge at Le Meridien. With the advent of the Internet, you can identify nearby congregations before your interview and contact them directly to find out how much interaction they have and the nature of the relationship with the school. </p>
<p>If you’re really serious about this and if it’s a priority that you want your child to make a priority, then visit that congregation in conjunction with your tour. Figure out what the travel time is like. Get some feel for whether the experience they’ll have will be worth any special accommodations that you or your child or the school will need to make for your child to hook up with the congregation.</p>
<p>Armed with what you know, ask the AdCom what they think it will be like for your child to participate. Are there regular activities on campus during the service times? Do they know of faculty members who attend that congregation? Do they happen to know whether faculty members or students tend to favor a congregation that’s different from the one that’s closest to the school? Could you find out who those faculty members are? For those faculty members, if any, there are any number of questions to ask about the number of participants, travel arrangements, the quality of connectivity and I would ask about the special religious holidays/sabbath events/feasts and how they match up with the school’s calendar and how any conflicts are addressed.</p>
<p>And, remember, you will have some opportunity to probe deeper into this when revisit time occurs. There’s no need to paint yourself like a religious zealot (or make yourself concerned that you’re creating an impression that religious needs will probably be too much of a burden on the school or distraction from the school activities). Once you establish plausibility of participating, you might want to save the more exacting inquiry for revisits when the issue is not nearly so speculative.</p>