Welcome to the Union School programs!

Fifteen years ago, seven dedicated and thoughtful interfaith families created a Sunday morning religious education program for their children. The program, hosted by Old St. Patrick’s in Chicago became the Family School. The parents soon crafted a mission which included, in part, the desire to convey to their children the stories, traditions, ritual and values of both Christianity and Judaism and to give their children a sense of belonging to a Catholic Jewish community.

At the same time, the Hebrew Naming and Baptism ceremony was drawing families from near and far as they wanted a way to celebrate the new life they had been gifted with. As part of the preparation for this ritual, new parents were invited to participate in the ‘Under 5” program. After years of attending monthly meetings, families felt ready to move to the next step: religious education for their school-age children. Because they lived in the suburbs and were putting roots down, the natural expansion of The Interfaith Union was the creation of The Union School, to serve families near to where they live. The Union School borrows from the curriculum created by the Family School.

Currently, there are two locations of the school. The first is in Mt. Prospect, hosted by St. Raymond de Pentafort and currently in its third year, offering one hour class sessions twice a month. Families come --- predominantly –from the northwest corridor communities, including Crystal Lake, Round Lake, Gurnee, Sugar Grove and Arlington Heights. The school currently serves children in K, 1st and 2nd grades, along with a nursery program for younger siblings and guests. Each grade level is taught by a team of teacher-parents; while children are in classes, parents too become students and follow a program of adult learning set at the beginning of each school year! For more information regarding the program at St. Raymond’s, please contact Jennifer Forrest atJb4rest@aol.com, and click here regarding the current calendar.

The second site of the Union School is in Evanston and hosted by St. Athanasius Parish, a new site for the Naming-Baptism in 2008. The Union School is now in its second year at this site and is in the process of being reorganized. For information regarding this program, please contact Jeanne Phenany at jphenany@ameritech.net .

We welcome you to The Union Schools and look forward to meeting you!