Gender Education Program Normalizes 'Adam Identifying as Eve' at Chicago Jewish Day School

Sixth grade Jewish day school curriculum “drives a wedge between parents and children” around gender identity

Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, an elite Jewish day school on the North Side of Chicago which is accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools, has mandated “controversial ideology” as part of its gender education program for middle schoolers as early as sixth grade, Chicago Contrarian has learned.

A long-time “BZ parent” who describes himself as a “committed Jew and devout liberal” told Contrarian that the school’s “Human Growth & Development” program in sixth grade instructs kids that they can choose their own gender alongside “a decidedly non-kosher smorgasbord of sexual identities.”

The initiative is “driving a wedge between parents and students,” the parent notes, by “appropriating, without parental consent, for BZ’s teachers the final say on parenting and acceptable beliefs around these topics.”

This parent notes that he decided “not to share his name on-the-record” because he has “every expectation that the teachers and HS counseling staff would surreptitiously undermine my children's applications to high school if they were to find out.”

According to the parent, Zell is using material with students from TSER or Trans Student Educational Resources to suggest that gender identity “is fluid” and can include not only “female/woman/girl” and “male/man/boy” but also “other gender(s)” as well. This BZ parent went on to say: “My child accused me of being ‘transphobic’ when I relayed the fact that some biologists take the position that sex is a fact based on chromosomes.”

Moreover, one’s “Gender Expression,” which is not related to “sex assigned at birth” can include “Feminine, Masculine and other.”

A birthing parent and former community member, who left the school, jokes she is “waiting for the mandatory dress as Moses in drag Shabbat lunch.”

In addition, students in the gender educational curriculum, which is overseen in the sciences area by Johanna Thompson, who was featured in The Daily Wire for her derogatory statements against whites, men and Republicans, are taught they can be physically and emotionally attracted to women, men and other gender(s).

Our source suggests that “BZ is serving in place of parents” when it comes to teaching “pop biology” and expects families to “fall in line” with the curriculum through to “teaching about hormone therapy and gender reassignment surgery” – all without presenting the best-argument-against.

But if parents do not agree to “be knowledgeable about recommended resources, topics and language,” as cited in curriculum material, “I have seen how BZ has reserved the right in the past to encourage students to participate in facilitated transgendered clubs without parental notification or consent,” the parent notes.

Recommended resources for sixth grade parents include: “To be able to have the context and background information if your child wants to talk to you about” gender transitioning include:

“GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network) – An organization in the United States that seeks to end discrimination, harassment, and bullying based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression in K-12 schools – http://www.glsen.org”

“Gender Spectrum – Creating a gender-inclusive world for all children and youth by helping families, organizations, and institutions increase understandings of gender and consider the implications that evolving views have for each of us. – https://www.genderspectrum.org/”

“TSER (Trans Student Educational Resources) – a youth-led organization dedicated to transforming the educational environment for trans and gender nonconforming students through advocacy and empowerment. – http://www.transstudent.org”

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From a parental reading perspective to be informed on the curriculum and to “reaffirm at home what is being taught in the classroom,” according to materials provided to parents, the school recommends that families read, “Who Are You? The Kid’s Guide to Gender Identity,” Brook Pessin-Whedbee, among other books.

The parent adds: “BZ is in part doing this in part because it is precisely what Latin, Parker, Lab and other Chicago private schools want to see when BZ 8th graders apply to private high schools — indoctrination in gender ideology must happen early to insure that modern progressive sensibilities that replace religion with “my gender truth” carry through to the next stage of the modern elite educational experience.”

But more and more parents appear to be dropping out of the "woke" educational factory as they see the militancy the teaching is creating with students and the wedge it is driving with parents that at least want the opportunity to debate the topic with their radicalized kids.

Since Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School has inserted gender ideology and social justice — which it “back-tracked from after parental outrage ” — into its curriculum, enrollment has fallen by nearly “25 percent to 421 students” and “may drop under 400” next year for the first time in decades,” according to sources.

This is occurring as alternative Chicago area Jewish Day schools maintain enrollment numbers in the city and suburbs based on publicly available sources — and as waiting lists grow for private schools in Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee, and other states where Chicago and Illinois families are fleeing to.

“Validating BZ’s teachings at home that Adam can identify as Eve while being sexually attracted to apples is the school’s new mitzvah for parents even if it’s hurting enrollment,” the parent observes.‍

Selected curriculum overview material shared with parents is listed below:

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