JCDS is Boston’s only intentionally pluralist K-8 Jewish day school.

JCDS welcomes families from a wide spectrum of Jewish expression, practice, and belief. From religious observance and denominational affiliation, to secular and cultural identification, JCDS encompasses the beauty, creativity, and breadth of today’s Jewish community. Being Jewish looks different among the families of JCDS because of what’s at the center for each of us. The core for our families may include Torah study, Hebrew language, social justice, the State of Israel, or Jewish arts. Whatever the personal practice of families at JCDS, we share a commitment to Jewish study and tradition as fundamental to our learning about and understanding the world.

We call this Intentional Pluralism.

Intentional Pluralism is JCDS’ most distinctive premise and its organizing principle. Our school’s כוונה – kavvanah (intention) is to gather young people from families across the range of Jewish expression to learn and live, to explore and examine, to celebrate and study our Jewish heritage together. At JCDS we seek intensive Jewish learning from our common heritage while strengthening our students’ confidence in their own understandings. We teach that it is imperative to listen respectfully and openly to the views of one’s peers, and that it’s okay to disagree. The result is a community that is comfortable with the complexity of Jewish life and an experience of Judaism that is expansive and embracing, but that often describes different paths for different people. Integral to our pluralism is our commitment to anticipate, and attend to, the needs of our diverse families. Because our pluralism is a principled choice rather than a pragmatic one, we try always to approach our diversity from a place of learning, consensus, productive compromise, discovery, and respect. By asking what core Jewish values and commitments are driving families’ concerns, rather than starting from bottom lines, JCDS fosters both individuality and community.

JCDS reaps the benefits of our approach in classes – Jewish and general studies alike, where students consistently hear more than one point of view and grow up comfortable with nuance. We are pleased, but not surprised, when we hear from our students’ high schools that our graduates are skilled questioners who are open to others’ views yet have the confidence of their own, thoughtful understandings. The JCDS community also benefits. Families with varying practices of Shabbat or Kashrut seek out ways to accommodate one another at Shabbat visits, B’nei Mitzvah, and birthday parties at one another’s homes. Intentional Pluralism goes beyond welcoming Jewish diversity: by coming together as we do, and why we do, it opens new possibilities and builds to something greater.

Intentional Pluralism means your child and your whole family have a place here.