We know as well that there are thousands more who love Jewish day schools who will not be with us in Atlanta. We are committed to ensuring that the learning of the Prizmah Conference extends beyond our few days together—that the impact of our time together is felt far and wide in the day school field over the coming months. The conference is meant to be a launching point. Even as the end of this school year approaches, many are deeply engaged in planning for next year, and for long-term sustainability. For Prizmah, the conference is very much a beginning on a journey that will feature many more “on-ramps.”

Today we celebrate Rosh Chodesh Adar II and anticipate the joy of Purim in two weeks. At the end of Megillat Esther, we read: לַיְּהוּדִ֕ים הָֽיְתָ֥ה אוֹרָ֖ה וְשִׂמְחָ֑ה וְשָׂשֹׂ֖ן וִיקָֽר Layehudim haytah orah ve-simchah ve-sasson vikar The Jews enjoyed light and gladness, happiness and honor. We quote from this sentence each week during the Havdalah ceremony, where we add the concluding phrase,כֵּן תִּהְיֶה לָנוּ ken tihiyeh lanu, “so let it be with us!” In this way, our Saturday evening prayer expresses the desire to share the same light and gladness enjoyed by the Jews of Shushan. As we look forward to next week’s conference, sure to be filled with light, gladness, happiness, and honor, we make a promise to the broader field that the learning will extend similarly across time and distance. “So let it be with us!”

Founded in 1914 on a pluralistic vision of Judaism, JPPS-Bialik in Montreal is a school still learning and growing. After a multi-year accreditation process, JPPS-Bialik has earned the notable distinction of becoming an IB World School and is the first Jewish day school in Canada to be offering the International Baccalaureate-Primary Years Programme (IB-PYP) and the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (IB-MYP), 5 year certificate. Avi Satov, Co-Head of School and Bialik High School Principal, proudly says, “Bialik has implemented the full 5 year Middle Years Programme (MYP), and an inclusive approach to learning so all of our students are IB learners and receive the benefits of an IB global education, effective February 2016.”

The IB-PYP is centered on the development of the whole child as an inquisitive learner, both in and outside the classroom. The inquiry-based program is academically rigorous and holds students and teachers accountable to internationally-recognized standards. At JPPS, the goal is to generate such excitement in the students that “their neurons begin to fire, curiosity and creativity is cultivated, and they can’t wait to become experts in answering their own questions,” Marnie Stein, Co-Head of School and JPPS Elementary School Principal, explains.

“We believe that a stellar Jewish education is the bedrock of excellence and that it enhances and frames all the learning that takes place at our school,” Naomi Blumer, Director of Strategic Communications & Community Relations, shared. For JPPS-Bialik, integrating IB is not only about elevating academic rigor; this program calls for cross-curricular collaboration and is centered around the deepening of understanding and connection between departments, teachers, and administrators.

JPPS-Bialik is currently working with Prizmah coaches Adele Yermack and Elana Alfred to fine-tune their enrollment process. For the JPPS community, implementing the IB-PYP has been a fabulous journey that makes their school unique while still encompassing the Jewish values they hold so highly.

Check out these beautiful videos the schools put together for both the JPPS elementary and Bialik High School communities!

Is there something innovative or exciting happening at your school that Prizmah can spotlight in a future issue? Email Senior Director of Marketing and Communications Cheryl Weiner Rosenberg to let us know!

The Prizmah Conference starts in three days! We're so excited to dream with you and more than 1,000 leaders from Jewish day schools across North America and beyond. We're particularly looking forward to our full-conference design thinking experience facilitated by the Teachers Guild, where we will problem-solve the questions that matter the most to our students and schools. During the session, we'll divide into design teams to work on one of four questions. We invite you to take a moment to think about which of these questions you want to choose, and whether it's meaningful for your team to design together:

• Financial Sustainability: How might we expand the quality and accessibility of our schools, rethinking our business models and educational practices?
  

• Educational Innovation: How might we harness, learn, and build leading practices to foster a culture of continuous improvement and experimentation within schools and/or across the field of Jewish day schools?
• Deepen Talent: How might we invest in the pipeline of teachers, administrators, and lay leaders, empowering them to transform their schools into vibrant centers of learning and Jewish community?
• Making the Case: How might we develop a narrative to communicate the impact of Jewish day schools - broadening our community, strengthening our lay leader base, and attracting new families?
  

Calling all conference attendees! We want you to blog about your experience in real time! Send blogs to [email protected] at any point before, during, or after the conference and we’ll take care of the rest!

Discover how Jewish day schools in the US are learning about civic engagement and the ways that our community and tradition can inform our participation in the larger society.

Click here to read an important piece on Teaching Civics in the Age of Polarization by Tamara Tweel and Lindsay Bressman.

The next issue of HaYidion is on Deepening Talent. Does your school have a unique and exceptional program or method for deepening your students' talent that you'd like to share with the field? If so, contact Elliott Rabin at [email protected] with a 1-2 sentence description.

One of the most frequently asked questions we hear from heads of school is: How can I find and retain top talent in my school?

Prizmah has partnered with Leading Edge, the Alliance for Excellence in Jewish Leadership, to offer their Employee Experience Survey to day schools. This service is 100% free to your school and includes a consultation with an organizational behavior expert to help you think through your results, as well as a webinar on the aggregated data of day school trends.

This invaluable Leading Edge initiative is offered through the support of generous federations and foundations who came together to address a need within Jewish organizations for practical tools that enable assessment and improvement of workplace culture. Some schools have inquired, what’s the catch?  We’re here to tell you that there really is no catch-- the more organizations that participate, the more (confidential) data Leading Edge is able to gather, and the more informed they can be in addressing the needs of the Jewish professional workplace.

The more schools that participate, the more informed and thorough our school-specific data will be, enabling us all to better understand how we can make our day schools even more fulfilling places to work.

Have more questions about the survey? Reach out to Alena Gomulina at [email protected].

Want to know more about what we hope to do with the aggregated day school results?Reach out to Ilisa Cappell at [email protected].

Jewish educators from communities across the United States are invited to attend the 4th Annual National Educators Institute: The Art and Science of Teaching American Jewish History at the National museum of American Jewish History from July 7th-10th, 2019! This seminar is an innovative professional development program specifically designed to empower teachers to re-envision Jewish history education in America by promoting historical thinking, empathy, and self-identification.

The program is a unique opportunity to engage with the museum’s collections, learn from the experts in the fields of American Jewish history and education, and collaborate with Museum staff and fellow teachers sharing knowledge and best practices.

For more information, please visit https://www.nmajh.org/nei/.