{"id":7320,"date":"2025-05-05T21:36:54","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T02:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/?p=7320"},"modified":"2025-05-05T21:37:01","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T02:37:01","slug":"progress-is-power-at-grace-church-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/progress-is-power-at-grace-church-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Progress is Power at Grace Church School"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Art provided by Juliette Robertson ’25<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A selling point of Grace Church School is its ability to adjust to the volatile social and political ecosystem surrounding a New York City private school.  Essentially, the school can stay current with trends, issues, and discussions in society and politics, ensuring that students are educated in a relevant way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To many, this power has become dampened by one oversimplified term: \u201cwoke.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, the one-dimensionality of such a term undermines the importance of being able to create safe environments for students of all identities.  The negativity surrounding the term \u201cwoke\u201d erodes the school\u2019s efforts to challenge harmful notions persisting in media and government, and provide an education unhindered by the chosen identity of the students whom the school has pledged to keep safe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI find I\u2019m allergic to labels for Grace,\u201d said Robbie Pennoyer, head of the school, \u201cand I get itchy when I hear the school described with catch-alls like \u2018traditional\u2019 or \u2018progressive\u2019 or \u2018woke\u2019 or \u2018classically liberal.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, if Grace Church School is going to be reduced to certain labels, it becomes the duty of its members to understand what these labels mean and where they may come from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Pennoyer can help us here: \u201cIf it\u2019s \u2018traditional\u2019 to care that kids acquire a strong foundation of knowledge and hone academic skills, then we\u2019re certainly that,\u201d he wrote in an email response to my questions.  \u201cIf it\u2019s \u2018progressive\u2019 to believe that every child at the school deserves to be well known and well loved, then I suppose we\u2019re that, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it\u2019s \u2018woke\u2019 to believe that there are obstacles to feeling a deep sense of belonging at a school like ours and that we should try to address them, then I guess we\u2019re that, too.  If it\u2019s \u2018classically liberal\u2019 to believe that schools should value multiple thoughtful perspectives on complex questions, then, yes, we\u2019re that, too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’ve heard folks use all four of those shorthands to describe our school,\u201d Mr. Pennoyer concluded, \u201cand I find that each flattens out the essential aspects of the Grace ethos beyond the point of its being recognizable.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The school has been undermined by an inaccurate \u201cwoke\u201d label, notably by the New York Post<\/a>, New York Times<\/a>, and Daily Mail<\/a>.  Any quick Google search related to Grace will bring up language such as \u201cindoctrination,\u201d \u201cwhite privilege,\u201d and \u201cwokeness.\u201d  While most labels found in the news have roots in at least a reflection of truth, our system, departments, policies, and pedagogy stand to be stronger reflections of how Grace really persists compared to one dimensional labels of any kind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

From my perspective as a student, I understand the \u201cour system\u201d to be the components that the school has built in order to combat forms of exclusion and ignorance in our community.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a subtle truth to the fact that Grace is a more liberal and \u201cwoke\u201d school than its many private school counterparts.  Yet if we try to understand the labels that Grace is being called,  the more precise language would be \u201cprogressive.\u201d  Understanding the difference between being \u201cwoke\u201d and being \u201cprogressive\u201d leads to a deeper understanding and highlights the good that Grace Church School is doing for its community members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The label of wokeness has strayed far from the original usage of what the term \u201cwoke\u201d actually meant.  Someone being woke was awake: <\/em>observant and aware of their surroundings and their own place within the larger ecosystem around them.  The term is now understood as a radical form of self-righteousness, a label used to attack and undermine the credibility of something by labeling it as pompous.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something that is \u201cwoke\u201d has been made to feel like something that is too pretentious, and does not solve real problems.  This leads to the impression of covering up injustices.  On the other hand, a progressive school, according to school counselor Mel Chan, is a space where we \u201ctalk about and empathize things like inclusion \u2026 and hold these values to be true, reflected in our curriculum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are trying to teach something that is more expansive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being liberal and woke are closer to political ideologies, while being progressive seems closer to practical pedagogies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, an unfortunate aspect of the reality of Grace Church School is that it is not a perfect institution, and there are still unfortunate situations going on within the community. A progressive school still has its challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prudence R. \u201826 says the school is sometimes \u201ctoo focused on talking about the problems, and not dedicating enough energy to solving them.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though there may be an urgent desire of the administration to play a role in breaking down harmful systems, our community, like other predominantly white private schools, still has substantial issues: students of color are being confused with other students of color and classroom discussions are often dominated by white male voices. The issues also extend to bigotry following traumatic events, such as when Jewish students reported hearing anti-semitic jokes in the days following the Hamas-led attack on Israelis back in October.  But given just a few examples of certain injustices in the community, it is extremely important to consider the extensive systems the school has <\/em>in place to combat these issues.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An aspect of the \u201cwoke school\u201d premise<\/em> is that we do not actually deploy systems that counter harm in our communities, but instead make empty arguments and baseless claims for what we are pretending to be doing.  At Grace, this argument remains untrue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace Church School has more than 10 faculty members dedicated to being student support guides: hubs for stability and emotional support.  Additionally, there are two different learning specialists whose jobs are to help students plan, organize, and help them build their own systems of stability.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Grace Office of Community Engagement, according to its mission,  is a \u201cdedicated team focused on our commitment to building a healthy, equitable, antiracist, and sustainable community<\/a>\u201d. Grace\u2019s MLK Symposium is a week of service inspired by the acts of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.  Finally, there are numerous chapel services dedicated to celebrating different affinity and racial groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strength of the school is the promise of active demonstration and inclusion. Being defined as a \u201cwoke\u201d school categorizes the institution as a politically dominant and image-first school.  And yet, the truth is that Grace is<\/em> a different school compared to most, especially in the New York City private school circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace’s education extends beyond<\/em> the books, arming the students with a foundation of systems that teach and reward mindful and inclusive thinking.  This multidimensional approach is critical to a pedagogy of joy, always working towards the mission of an injustice-free community, where diversity is a strength, and progress is power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wesley Tyson \u201826, the author, is a staff writer for <\/em>The Grace Gazette. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Art provided by Juliette Robertson ’25 A selling point of Grace Church School is its ability to adjust to the volatile social and political ecosystem surrounding a New York City… Continue reading “Progress is Power at Grace Church School”<\/span> <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":108,"featured_media":7322,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,200,16,7],"tags":[180],"appful":[],"class_list":["post-7320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-recent","category-special-sections","category-school","tag-featured"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9uEnr-1U4","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/unnamed-3.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7320"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7323,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7320\/revisions\/7323"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7320"},{"taxonomy":"appful","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gracegazette.org\/wordpress1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/appful?post=7320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}