Welcome to Schechter Boston!
Shalom Friends,
Every day our students have the chance to master the knowledge and skills that will help them succeed in school and beyond. The key to mastery is practice. Our teachers design inspiring and engaging experiences that give every student the change to hone subject specific skills and knowledge, but also an underlying set of interdisciplinary skills. They interpret literature, solve math problems, and engage with Jewish wisdom and culture. Our students leave Schechter Boston able to draw on the knowledge and skills they have mastered, think critically, make connections, and accomplish their goals.
Knowledge and skills are essential for deep learning, but not enough. Children need teachers who truly know them, their passions and strengths and weaknesses. We put in the time to get to know our students, to show them we care, and to help each student find meaning in what they are learning. We push our students to go beyond “what” they are learning and ask “So what?” and “Now what?” Our students, with their teachers’ support, explore the connections between the classroom and the world beyond. We believe that children at all ages need opportunities to partner with peers and to explore the questions and issues that matter most to them. Through these experiences, they come to feel not only that they have mastered content, but also that the content matters.
Ultimately, mastery and meaning work together to produce mindsets. These are the habitual ways of being in the world that shape how students live the rest of their lives. Our graduates have “learned how to learn.” They have developed the habits to help them succeed in high school and beyond. They have a strong sense of self. They know who they are as participants in American society, members of the Jewish community, and citizens of the world. They value collaboration and understand that we are always better together. Above all, they can articulate a vision for how to make the world better and feel inspired to achieve it.
I look forward to welcoming you to Schechter and sharing more with you!
Dr. Jonah Hassenfeld, Director of Learning and Teaching
