Moving from Me to We

I am so grateful to work at MJDS. In my seventeen years as an educator, there is no other school I’ve worked in or visited that lives its core values so authentically. The key is having every adult on the same page and consistently using common language with each other and our students. Our staff Read More…

As shabbat approaches I want to make sure you are able to access our 8th grade Israel blog. Click HERE to access it and subscribe. Also enjoy a few moments of incredible…our students leading Kabbalat Shabbat services adjacent to the Kotel!

As you begin to think about the end of school and summer activities, I urge you to take a moment and read the brief article below from the Marshall Memo (click  HERE to learn about the memo). Summer is a perfect time to help students build a love of reading and you can help create a Read More…

Earlier this week an alumni parent shared an article responding to the shooting at the Chabad of Poway, CA. You can click HERE to read the article. Among the many stories and editorials I’ve recently read about the current state of anti-semitism in our local and global community, this article stood out. I hope you will Read More…

Prior to joining the incredible MJDS community, I taught in and led high schools for fourteen years. Starting in 2010 the schools I worked in began implementing Document Based Questions (DBQs) as part of their humanities and social studies curricula. The impetus for this came from multiple research studies and, locally, the work of two Read More…

Today I was lucky enough to be able to join Adon. Kaufman and the 6th grade class at The Gathering (where they serve meals to community members who are homeless) where I could see our students live our core values of, Empathy, Wonder, and Tikkun Olam.  It was an incredible experience. I saw our students Read More…

There is an amazing amount of evidence in the last several years debunking many long held beliefs about teaching and learning. At MJDS we strive to truly be lifelong learners and as such, be aware of this research and apply it to how adults and students learn best. With this in mind and in connection Read More…

By now most of you have heard about Carol Dweck, Angela Duckworth and the research each has published on growth mindset, grit and perseverance. As a longtime educator and parent, I can verify that Dweck and Duckworth’s research is pretty spot on and yet, like most things, it is easy to talk about and harder Read More…

I am sharing two articles that I hope you take the time to read. You can access the first article by clicking HERE. This report from Harvard’s graduate school of education shares current research and actionable steps for schools to implement so that social-emotional learning is embedded in a student’s typical school day. At MJDS we already Read More…

We are so fortunate to have visionaries on our staff. Elsie Crawford leads our Repairing Together program (click HERE to learn more) which fosters relationships between MJDS, Milwaukee College Prep’s (MCP) 38th street campus, Bruce Guadalupe Community School and the Indian Community School. As part of this unique partnership, students from each school shadow one another at Read More…