In this article, the author discusses how a school district in Modesto, California deals with religious diversity. Modesto requires that every 9th-grader in the district enroll in a semester-long world religions course. Ninth grade made sense--students were old enough to handle the subject material, and the emphasis on religious diversity happened to coincide with the district's desire to enhance the 9th-grade history and social studies curriculum. Since then, state standards have changed--the world religions course no longer fulfills specific state curricular requirements, but it's been so successful in changing attitudes that school officials decided to keep the course in place. Modesto's world religions course is modeled after the same First Amendment principles that guided the safe-schools policy. The course provides a safe space to talk about sensitive issues in ways that otherwise might be inappropriate or impolite.