Co-curricular and Extra-curricular Activities
Middle School
The
JCDS Middle School experience continues the culture of the school featuring
- a nurturing environment which supports individual strengths and promotes self-esteem
- a solid grounding in Jewish knowledge and values as tools to navigate the path of adolescence
- challenging academics coupled with opportunities for creative self-expression
Expectations
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Our students have and will continue to have responsibilities in shaping their own community; their voices are heard - within a carefully planned structure of participatory governance and management.
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Our students are and will be challenged to stand up for their beliefs, even if this represents an "unpopular" stance.
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Our students are and will be expected to explore their relationships with Judaism through knowledge, practice and application.
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The very culture of the school is one in which everyone - teachers, parents, staff members, students - is expected to reflect its vision.
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Our families - including parents, grandparents and others - assume integral roles as partners in lifelong learning and in demonstrations of pride and love of their Jewish heritage. The role of the family takes on a distinctive significance at this stage of development.
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Understanding that gender-related self-esteem issues begin taking shape in these grades, JCDS will focus on ways of reinforcing Jewish male/female identities and dynamics.
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Our students are supported and guided by a uniquely pluralist Jewish community as they work through sensitive issues of young adolescence in an environment in which diversity is celebrated, tolerance and empathy are central.
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JCDS's admissions policy is to accept students who can flourish in our environment, which includes dual language, Judaic studies, and high level of academic expectations. In order to serve the individual needs of each child and to be sure that students can actively be part of the group, we will admit new middle school applicants whose skills fit with the range of skills of presently enrolled students. As we grow and invite new students into our middle school, we strive to both maintain and enrich the culture of the school.
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Our middle school admissions policy for non-day-school students focuses on our ability to integrate children successfully into the school culture and intensive use of Hebrew. Our main concern is for the success of every child. We feel it is of utmost importance with adolescents to ensure they will thrive if they are transitioning into a new school environment. The practical class size is 22 students with 8:1 student/teacher ratios (including all teachers involved with students). In 2000-2001 we expect our upper middle school class to be significantly smaller.
The Middle School curriculum includes a wide range of subject areas taught by many teachers. The team of teachers is working together to create an integrated, theme-based program for the students. History, holidays, literature and humash, science, Hebrew and even mathematics will be taught with an awareness of the real-life connections and relationships which exist between areas. We will explore and emphasize the links among these subjects while building upon the skills and knowledge endemic to each.
In September of 1999 we launched a new Beit Midrash program in the middle school class. Each Friday students spend most of the morning studying in the Beit Midrash. This traditional style of learning is not usually used with such young students. The process will be described in detail below. It affords the Middle School team of teachers a unique opportunity to teach together on a regular basis and to integrate the various subjects in which we each specialize Thus each week culminates with a text-based, project-oriented program, allowing students to actively integrate the skills and content of their curriculum in a meaningful and creative way.
Bet
Midrash
The JCDS Bet Midrash program enhances the acquisition of knowledge and stimulates creativity in Hebrew learning, Judaics and English. Students receive texts from various sources (tanach, mishna, gemara, modern literature and poetry) on a particular theme. They learn how to study the texts by themselves, in small groups ("in hevruta"), share their knowledge with the rest of the class, and develop subjects in a variety of creative ways.
General Middle School Curriculum Information
We use highly regarded existing curricula in addition to creating our own. We strive to reach a balance between the two-year set curriculum outline for each group and the personalization of the daily flow in the classroom. There is flexibility from year to year in the program so that each teacher can bring his/her individual creativity and personal special interests and passions into the classroom. Our professional staff have spent and will continue to spend summers and staff development time researching and creating material for the middle school curriculum.
We use a thematic, integrated approach to teaching and learning. For example, the 12-14 year olds focus on the enlightenment period and the history of Zionism, and, in parallel, the founding of the state of Israel and the United States. They study the political and governing structures of both countries. The 10-12 year olds' humanities curriculum (in alternate years) focuses on the Middle Ages, Renaissance periods and Jewish history. The music program focuses on these same periods. In 1999-2000 an integration of these areas of study resulted in a "Robin Hood" play, an adaptation of the classic tale, which included songs and dances learned in Music class. One of the songs was mentioned in the book the students read. When the Humanities curriculum deals with the expulsion of Spanish Jews in both history and literature, the science curriculum includes the machines of Leonardo da Vinci, and the art curriculum includes various artists of the period.
All curricular subjects are integrated to various extents. Beit Midrash pulls together Hebrew language, Judaic studies (text), English literature, history, cultural arts and science. English literature and history are thoroughly integrated into a single program - Humanities. Holiday curriculum is approached through Hebrew, Torah Sheb'al Peh, T'fillot and Humash. All European and US History is integrated with Jewish history and Torah Sheb'al Peh. All middle school teachers (academic and specialists) work as a team. They meet regularly to explore and expand upon areas of commonality within and between subject areas in order to maximize opportunities for integration.
The major organizing principles of the Judaic studies program are critical thinking and independence of thought, grounded in knowledge of the texts. We teach by raising questions and showing that there are many answers to each question. Students will be comfortable with traditional texts, commentary in Rashi Script, and Modern Hebrew literature. We hope our students will discuss and respect the range of interpretation and meaning found in these texts and also find spiritual and personal connection. Our goal is to provide our students with a strong background in Mishnah, Midrashim, Gemara, T'fillot, Hagim and the History of the Jewish People.
Our programming for the middle school students stresses that Jewish study and knowledge is integral to all they learn and do at JCDS. By the time they graduate, students will have the tools to be independently capable of continued study and will be equipped to practice Judaism with a personal and informed ability to choose. They will have been exposed to the richness and variety of Jewish practices as a result of the pluralist community within which they study and grow. Hebrew language will be known both as a living language of Israel as well as a key to unlock the richness of the Jewish texts - traditional and modern. Our students will experience various types of t'fillot, learn the history of the t'fillot and have a basic knowledge of their origins . T'fillah is not only an area of academic study -- students will be given the space to experience the inner beauty and the spiritual uplifting that come from t'fillah.
Middle school students will learn about and experience both the common threads and the differences among the movements of Judaism. The historical background of variations of t'fillot will be analyzed. The students will compare different siddurim.
The Middle School years are a time of maturation toward the Bar/Bat Mitzvah and the program on t'fillot will allow these young adolescents to focus on personal as well as communal prayer. In the 1999-2000 academic year, JCDS began the process of introducing life cycle events throughout the school. The lower middle school engaged in a multi-generational beit midrash and ceremony at which the students received their Humashim. Parents (without their children's prior knowledge) created blessings , which were inserted into the Humashim given to their children at the ceremony. In 2000-2001, students in the upper middle school (12 to 14 year old) will receive Tikkunim in preparation for becoming b'nei mitzvah.
Every week, classes learn Hebrew and Humash 4-5 sessions a week (separately). Parashat Hashavua is taught 1-2 sessions a week. T'fillot take place every day. Middle school students learn Navi and Torah She B'al peh (three sessions a week) and they study in Beit Midrash (once a week). The topic of Israel is integrated through the holidays, Hebrew, Humash and current events. In addition, in Hebrew language sessions, there is a focus on current and past history.
Although the Middle School is different from the elementary school, the integration and responsibility that come from being connected to the school community is essential. On Mondays, the whole school prays together. Parashat Hashavua is discussed and children take turns leading the service and reading from the Torah. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, each class davens Shaharit or Mincha independently. On Thursdays, the upper elementary and lower Middle School come together and read from the Torah on their own. T'fillah is a time of obligation (hova) but also a time of intention (kavanah). Each class focuses on different t'fillot each year. They learn the text, its meaning and build personal connections to the text. Art and music are integral parts of the experience of t'fillah at JCDS.
- See section on co-curricular opportunities for information on the Homework policy, music, art, physical education, technology and other components of the Middle School Program.