We had exactly what the OP describes at my high school. Kids gathered before school to have a prayer session in front of the building, and I never had any problem with. I did, however, look at it the same way that I see people that enjoy watching golf. I just don't get the attraction.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell