Service learning connects classroom learning to the world outside our school. We give our students the tools necessary for empathetic, life-long civic engagement, and root our service program in the richness of the Jewish concept of tikkun olam - repairing the world. Our students learn to connect their Jewish identity to active service in their community and the world at large. Students also learn that caring for each other and their school are vital foundations for service.
Students and faculty develop projects that support local communities, make connections to the wider world and deepen the academic curriculum by absorbing the lesson that to learn is to serve, and to serve is to learn.
Service Learning in Action
We teach, foster, and support integrity, kindness, and service in all our classrooms and activities, and specifically through initiatives such as:
- Middle School Service Elective — a group of middle school students, trained by the Jewish Coalition for Literacy, works one-on-one with elementary school students at other schools. Students reflect on their experiences as tutors and talk about the role of education and literacy in Judaism.
- Peer Helpers — eighth grade students assist one or two periods per week in a K-5 classroom. Peer helpers support classroom activities, and act as "big brothers and sisters" to the students in the class.
- Connection with Partnering Schools in Israel — students communicate about social justice and environment issues and projects with students at Hagome and Eynot Yarden schools through visits, mail, video, and over the web.