Beit Rabban engages children in the lifelong and joyful work of thoughtful Jews in an environment that celebrates curiosity, respect, authentic learning, and community service.We seek to sustain in our students the excitement of inquiry and discovery. A Beit Rabban education is designed to nurture children's capacity to explore, to find out, and to learn, and to foster students' confidence in their ability to evaluate ideas and make choices. Our teachers facilitate active, meaningful, and challenging learning, empowering children to acquire knowledge and skills and to think critically and creatively. Our students emerge with both the essential skills and the disposition to be ongoing learners, independent thinkers, and responsible decision-makers with a strong sense of self and community.

Beit Rabban provides a unique vision and model for the Jewish world. As a vision-led school, founded by Devora Steinmetz in 1991, our educational practices are organized around an inspiring conception of the kind of human being and community we aspire to build and cultivate. We see the school as a microcosm of the kind of Jewish community we hope to create in the world.

Beit Rabban students and alumni distinguish themselves as highly skilled, deeply thoughtful and generous members of the Jewish community. Our graduates have binding connections to Judaism and a passion for Jewish life and learning, a deep knowledge of Jewish tradition, practice, and classical texts, comfort in Hebrew language, and confidence in their personal Jewish practices. They have both a broad base of knowledge and strong skills across disciplines. Beit Rabban graduates grow to be problem solvers, independent and critical thinkers, and curious and creative learners.

CURIOSITY

At Beit Rabban there is no trade-off between students learning to think and solve problems and their mastery of basic skills. Beit Rabban emphasizes both. Beit Rabban students explore, analyze, solve problems, discuss, debate and ponder. They ask bold questions of traditional and contemporary texts, but their courageous thinking is tempered by the expectation that they master basic skills and knowledge.

RESPECT

A Beit Rabban education is built on respect. From students' earliest days at Beit Rabban, they are invited to participate in an open discourse of thoughtful speech and careful listening. Children begin in The Gan at Beit Rabban and continue throughout the grades to sit in circles, expressing their thoughts while listening to the thoughts of others. Ben Zoma asked, "'Who is wise?' and answered 'Not the one who knows many facts, but the one who can learn from everyone.'"

AUTHENTIC LEARNING

At Beit Rabban students are regarded as serious participants in authentic life-long study and every day experiences. Children in The Gan at Beit Rabban are often heard describing themselves as artists, writers, builders, or singers. Garinim children (Kindergarten/1st grade) write stories in writer's workshop each day; they are proud of their published pieces, which they read with their peers alongside more well-known works of fiction. The beginning of in-depth Chumash study is celebrated in Shtillim (2cd/3rd grade), when each of these students chants several verses from Parshat Bereishit for the whole school community.

Beit Rabban engages students in integrated Jewish and general studies so teachers teach both Jewish and secular subjects. All subjects of study are integrated and students learn how they are interrelated. Judaism is not just one component of a child's life but a lens through which he or she views the world.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Beit Rabban empowers children to give and to serve. Through community service, an integral part of a Beit Rabban education, children learn the skills to turn natural curiosity into complex insight, observation into problem-solving strategies, and intuition into knowledge, inspiring them to use their ideas to repair the world.