Community News

We are pleased to announce the inauguration of the RAVSAK Small School Professional Development Scholarship. This scholarship will make the training, networking and professional development opportunities of the RAVSAK Annual Leadership Conference accessible to educators from small Jewish day schools and small Jewish communities across North America.

Job Market

Title: Head of School
School: The Akiva School
City: Nashville, TN

The Akiva School is the only independent elementary community day school of its kind in the region and has earned both local and national recognition as an outstanding academic institution. The school is located minutes from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, a culturally vibrant city...

Featured School

The Paul Penna Downtown JDS

The Paul Penna Downtown Jewish Day School appreciates the diversity of contemporary Jewish life. Our Senior Kindergarten to Grade 8 curriculum presents children with a holistic view of the world, weaving together the Jewish and general facets of their lives. In this highly enriched learning environment, students develop excellent academic skills and a meaningful Jewish identity.

Associate Member

The David Project
is a non-profit organization that is leading an educational movement of effective Israel supporters. We aim to inform and inspire strong voices for Israel through our dynamic and comprehensive educational curricula, workshops, and seminars.

Measuring the Success of a School's "Jewish Mission"

♦ by Dr. Marc N. Kramer

♦ by Dr. Jack Sparks

♦ by Dr. Ray Levi

I was sitting in a sidewalk café as I watched five Minneapolis Jewish Day School students aged 6 to 12 run past. They dashed into a shop, followed shortly by the father of two of the children. A couple of minutes later the children scampered out of the store and ran on down the block to their next destination. The father joined the mother of the other three children and followed slowly.

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♦ by Dr. Barbara Davis

♦ by Stuart Dow

Just over four years ago, when I was chosen to be the founding headmaster of the new Jewish community high school in Houston, I considered at length the sort of culture I wanted to help create. More specifically, I thought of the different schools I had attended as a student and how each sought to inculcate certain behavioral norms — reflecting on those that were effective and those that were not.

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♦ by Dr. Ezra Kopelowitz

The "Jewish goals" of a school are always stated in an abstract way in the school's mission statement. However, from the mission statement to everyday practice is a long distance that most schools do not successfully travel.

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