ACADEMICS
שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק הָיָה מִשְּׁיָרֵי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה.
הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עַל שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים הָעוֹלָם עוֹמֵד,
עַל הַתּוֹרָה וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה וְעַל גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים.
משנה אבות א׳:ב׳
“Shimon the Righteous was from the remnants of the Great Assembly. He would say, "On three things the world stands:
on the Torah, on work, and on acts of lovingkindness."
Pirkei Avot 1:2
CORE PILLARS OF A BEIT RABBAN EDUCATION
We work to grow students who are kind community members who are driven by the Jewish imperative to make a difference and who value and care for themselves, their immediate communities, and their world.
We work to grow students who are active learners, who take initiative and ownership of their learning, who always seek relevance in their learning, and are adventurous human beings who never stop learning and who look for and find wonder in all things.
We work to grow students who are empowered Jews, equipped with the skills and passion to lead rich Jewish lives and to help shape meaningful Jewish life for others.
GRADE DIVISIONS
In our Chativah program, fifth through eighth-grade students are continuously asked to make personal meaning of their learning and to take leadership roles within the school in concrete ways. Beit Rabban students graduate with high-level academic skills and tools to be lifelong learners and community members.
Gan
גן
Preschool
Kevutzot
קבוצות
Elementary School
Chativah
חטיבה
Middle School
GUIDING VALUES & PHILOSOPHIES
Immersive Judaism
Judaism is a way of life, not a subject that is confined to particular periods of the school day. To this end, we strive to integrate Judaic and secular learning throughout the day and to ensure that all educators engage in both Jewish and secular teaching, rituals, and programs.
Joy and Safety
A safe, joyful environment that engenders a sense of belonging maximizes students’ capacity to learn. We devote regular periods of time and programs to community building within each classroom and across grades.
Emotional Intelligence is Teachable
Emotional intelligence is crucial for long-term success, and emotional intelligence must be cultivated. We prioritize social-emotional curriculum, focusing on respectful discourse, conflict resolution, and empathy education. Positive Discipline, Racial Literacy, and Briyut (Healthy Living) lessons are required curriculum in each grade. In addition, community meetings are important times to work through communal issues, build community spirit, and address real-world issues. Engaging in all this builds emotional intelligence.
Rigor Deepens Love
Students are encouraged, inspired, and expected to work through complicated scenarios, ask insightful questions, and develop problem-solving skills and perseverance. Working hard and doing hard things inspires students to learn more and persevere. As we teach our children to work hard, we also teach them to do so in ways that are both physically and emotionally healthy.
Curiosity Drives Learning
We are inspired by a student-centered educational philosophy. Teachers are empowered and encouraged to follow their students’ interests in designing projects that best achieve the mandated standards for each grade and subject. Encouraging and embracing curiosity and student questions are critical to growing a love of learning.
Diversity Enhances Learning
We seek out and embrace a diverse faculty, student, and parent body, including interfaith families, families of color, LGBTQ+ families, and families of all types of Jewish affiliation and practice. Our differences are discussed openly, and students learn to respect differences and better understand themselves. In addition to specific curricula like the Pollyanna racial literacy curriculum, teachers utilize opportunities to highlight diverse perspectives and diverse experiences - especially ethnic, racial, gender, and LGBTQ+ diversity - within their teaching of different subject areas. Classroom libraries, toys, and art materials also reflect this commitment.
Zionism Obligates
Beit Rabban identifies as a Zionist school. For us, Zionism means having a deep relationship with Israel and always working towards making Israel a more robust, safe, and just society. This goes beyond love or connection; it is about obligation. It is an obligation that is ongoing and evolving depending on the circumstances at play in Israel, among Jews in the diaspora, and within a person’s own mind and heart. Our goal is to instill this Zionism in each of our students so that they carry this real relationship and sense of obligation throughout their lives and are, likewise, equipped to continue to care for Israel no matter what the future brings.
Purposeful Use of Technology
Technology is used when it advances educational goals and is not a default mode of content education in any classroom. We want children to learn from teachers and from each other, and we want them to hold books in their hands and learn the mechanics of writing by hand (as research strongly supports). We employ almost no use of screens in the Gan, limited use of screens in Kevutzot, and more extensive but still intentional and limited use in the Chativah.
Purposeful Use of Homework
The main purpose of homework is to provide an opportunity for students to review and practice what they have learned in school; we do not believe in homework for homework’s sake. Homework is only assigned with a meaningful purpose, never as busy work that consumes too much family or play time. Homework also offers children an opportunity to develop skills for being responsible for their materials and their work, studying independently, and planning their time. We also do not give homework over Shabbat, Chol Hamoed Sukkot, Chanukah, or over December, February, or Pesach breaks. All students in K-8 are encouraged to read every night as a routine. We do not consider this homework, and we generally discourage reading logs. Beginning in the spring of first grade, all students do nightly Hebrew reading to practice accuracy and fluency.
Hebrew Empowers
Comfort in the Hebrew language empowers students as Jews in multiple ways: confidence in accessing Jewish texts, in praying, in connecting with other Jews, and in engaging deeply with Israel and Israelis.
Meaningful Assessment
We are committed to regular assessment and documentation of students’ learning in all grades and all subjects using both formative and summative assessments. The reasons we assess are: (a) to provide information about how students learn and determine what knowledge and skills they have acquired and understood; (b) to ascertain whether learning outcomes are in alignment with curriculum objectives and goals; (c) act as a feedback mechanism for curriculum development.
METHODOLOGY & CURRICULUM
Whole Child Education guides all our curriculum and teaching. We approach each child’s education holistically — academic, emotional, and spiritual — and we prioritize the full scope of their developmental needs.
Reggio Emilia is an educational philosophy that puts children at the center of their learning through a constructivist approach and guides our education in preschool.
