Testament to Age of Tolerance

Five times each school year, star wide receiver Todd Fenton of Notre Dame High is required to attend a Catholic service at the Sherman Oaks campus.

Each morning, before class begins, he respectfully stands for the pledge of allegiance and listens to a prayer read over the intercom.

“In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. . . .”

Fenton enrolled at Notre Dame three years ago because of its strong academic reputation and successful sports program. He had no experience with Catholicism.

“I was a little nervous,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect. I was worried they were going to force me to pray. I had all these assumptions what it would be like.”

Fenton had reason to feel awkward. He is Jewish.

“I kind of felt like a traitor at first,” he said. “But I realized I’m not betraying anyone or doing any harm. I’m going to a place that’s good for me. I’m comfortable with myself. I can sit through a couple of Masses and not worry about my identity.”

Fenton is a participant in a historic phenomenon.

Significant numbers of Jewish students are enrolling at local Catholic high schools, a development that would have been considered inconceivable by the students’ grandparents and great-grandparents.

“Certain social taboos from within the Jewish community have been torn down,” said David Myers, director of UCLA’s Center for Jewish Studies. “This [Jews going to Catholic schools] strikes me as unimaginable 50 years ago and unacceptable from immigrant parents, but today there’s a different reality.”

A new generation of Jewish parents is putting academic and sports considerations ahead of religious concerns in choosing schools. They are placing trust in their sons and daughters to maintain their Jewish identities even while they study in classrooms with crosses on the walls and listen to Christian prayers in the locker room and homeroom.

Helping pave the way is the increasing diversity of the student body at Catholic high schools.

“We’re proud of being a Catholic school,” said Chaminade High Principal Gary Murphy. “But we welcome people of all faiths because it brings great diversity. We’re not out there trying to convert anybody. We respect all.”

Of Chaminade’s 1,079 students, 52% identify themselves as Catholic. The Jewish enrollment is 11%. Also enrolled are Muslims, Buddhists and Protestants.

Students are required to take Catholic religion classes. The diverse student body at the West Hills school provides faculty members with the challenge of teaching students never exposed to Catholicism while giving Catholics an opportunity to learn different perspectives from students of other faiths.

“I don’t feel uncomfortable,” said Chaminade baseball player Spencer Gordon, who is Jewish. “I sit and listen. [Teachers] don’t try to impress their ideas on anyone.”

At Notre Dame, 62% of the 1,080 students are Catholic, with 5% identifying themselves as Jewish.

Fenton said religion classes at Notre Dame provide lessons “about morals and values.”

“They always present the Catholic view on the subject, but my school is pretty politically correct,” he said. “I’ve had no problems. It’s been a totally positive experience.”

UCLA’s Myers said Jewish students attending Catholic schools “reflect a willingness of parents to swallow a somewhat bitter pill exposing their kids to a Catholic environment in the name of education.”

He added, “What we also have to take into account is that public schools in America in the ‘80s and ‘90s have been under siege. There has been a tremendous amount of white flight, and Jewish white flight, in particular. Traditionally, Jews have been strong supporters of public schools.”

For Fenton and other Jewish athletes, the combination of successful sports and academic programs serve as a powerful lure to attend a Catholic school.

Fenton went to Walter Reed Middle School, a public school in North Hollywood, before enrolling at Notre Dame. He has become one of the region’s top receivers after catching 27 passes for 536 yards and nine touchdowns last fall as a junior. He ran 100 meters in 10.7 seconds this spring in track.

Fenton said he believes that he has been treated no differently than any other student at Notre Dame.

“I have been told to sit in the corner because I do talk a lot,” he said. “Then again, I was told to sit in the corner at public school, too.”

Another top Notre Dame athlete, senior pitcher-first baseman Ryan Stonerock, said he has made adjustments because he is Jewish. During morning prayer, he said, “Everyone else crosses themselves and I stand there respectful.”

Stonerock said he is glad his parents let him attend Notre Dame because “it’s been a good experience.” He insists he has not lost his Jewish identity.

Fenton, who has blond hair and blue eyes, said, “A lot of people don’t know I’m Jewish. I don’t shout it out; I don’t deny it. I say I’m going to school. I don’t wake up, ‘I’m going to Catholic school.’ ”

Notre Dame football Coach Kevin Rooney said sports continues to bring people together from different backgrounds, races and religions.

“One of the great things about athletics is it teaches kids about tolerance for other races and other religions because you have to work together,” he said.

Rabbi Harold Schulweis of Valley Beth Shalom in Encino said Jewish students attending Catholic schools “may be a tribute to the good relations that exist between the Jewish and Catholic community and the relaxed feelings.

“I would hope these people have enough Jewish background and Jewish support that they don’t lose [their identity].”

The attraction of Catholic schools for Jewish families doesn’t involve only academics and sports. It’s a question of affordability, too. Tuition at Catholic schools such as Chaminade ($5,800), Notre Dame ($5,500), Crespi ($5,250) and Alemany ($4,600) is far less expensive than at Milken Community School ($13,500), a Jewish high school off Mulholland Drive in the Sepulveda Pass.

The main obstacle for Jewish parents sending their children to Catholic schools is the grandparents. How do they explain that their recently bar mitzvahed son has enrolled at a Catholic high school?

“I think my grandmother would have turned over in the grave,” said Bob Fenton, Todd’s father.

The elder Fenton said he had concerns about Notre Dame’s “religious factor,” but they were alleviated during an orientation meeting.

He said he likes Notre Dame because it reminds him of his days as a student at Grant High in Van Nuys during the 1960s, when he considered the school safe and academically sound.

“I figured Notre Dame had a lot of the same characteristics from when I grew up,” he said.

Some Catholics might be upset that their private high schools have been opened to students of other religions, just like there are Jews who would never accept sending their children to Catholic schools.

But the best news coming out of the 1990s is that young people are far more open-minded than previous generations about working, studying and playing sports with people from different backgrounds.

This week, one group of Notre Dame students will celebrate Good Friday while another group observes Passover.

Only in America. How fortunate we are.

Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422.