P.S. 169 Principal Vilified After Recent Holiday & Pledge Ban

Planning on sending holiday wishes to your child’s elementary school? Might want to think twice if they attend P.S. 169 in Sunset Park.

According to a recent story from the New York Post, principal Eujin Jaela Kim put the kibosh on this year’s Christmas and Hanukkah season – and we’re not just talking about a ban on classroom parties. Administrators say that holiday references at the school have been completely wiped out.

“We definitely can’t say Christmas, nothing with Christmas on it, nothing with Santa,” P.S. 169 PTA president Mimi Ferrer explained to the Post. “No angels. We can’t even have a star because it can represent a religious system, like the Star of David.”

December celebrations weren’t the only things on the chopping block. Thanksgiving – which isn’t even a religious holiday – transformed into a “harvest festival,” and the morning Pledge of Allegiance disappeared when Ms. Kim took over as principal.

As one might expect, this epitome of political correctness has the internet in an uproar, with most placing the Sunset Park principal right up there with a certain green grinch and Ebenezer Scrooge.

One of the beautiful things about living in New York City is that we are truly a melting pot of cultures. Some celebrate Christmas. Some celebrate Hanukkah. Some celebrate Kwanza. Some don’t celebrate anything at all – and that’s perfectly fine.

Instead of banning the mere mention of holidays, especially without the apparent support of the school’s teaching and parent community, why not embrace them? Show kids that we come from different backgrounds with different traditions, and that each of those traditions is special in its own right.

P.S. 124, located in neighboring South Slope, accomplishes this beautifully with their annual Festival of Light gathering. Families come together with the traditional foods and music that represent their culture to celebrate – and learn – about one another. There’s no whitewashing of the season. Students learn songs from around the world and explore how global cultures honor their holidays. The kids both understand and accept the differences in their community, and it only helps to make them stronger.

As Ms. Kim navigates the choppy waters of this public relations nightmare, she might want to rethink her heavy-handed approach to the school’s holiday observances. In the grand scheme of things, inclusion is often a much stronger choice than exclusion.