Our Vision
MetroWest Jewish Day School (MWJDS) is a community school that nurtures students, families, and faculty as they proceed on journeys of learning and discovery. Students of all observances study and learn in an environment of academic excellence in which ancient text and modern curriculum are woven together. MWJDS inspires proud, knowledgeable, responsible Jews empowered to strengthen communal life in Metrowest and beyond.
A Value-Based Institution
The MWJDS community is governed by and strives to help others develop according to the goodness that Judaism engenders. We understand how our ethical stances are compatible with the highest values in our American society. Children learn respect for peers, parents, teachers and authority; honor the elderly; show compassion; give support for the sick, disabled and bereaved; care for the environment and animals; and show understanding and appreciation of diversity.
Engaged Learning
… when you study Torah, you learn how to peel an onion. You learn to look at a situation a single word or phrase, and to appreciate that even one word can have multiple interpretations. The process of discovering each meaning is gratifying and it teaches you different styles of logic, which in turn deepen your understanding. ~ source: Natural Born Entrepreneur, by Dan Bricklin, September, 2001. Copyright 2001 by Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation: all rights reserved.
At MWJDS, our students are busy “peeling onions” every day. As active participants in their learning, they are not only asked questions, but are encouraged to ask their own questions to find their own answers.
Responsive Community
MWJDS leverages The Responsive Classroom model to emphasize social, emotional, and academic growth in a strong and safe environment. The goal is to enable optimal student learning. The Responsive Classroom approach is based on the premise that children learn best when they have both academic and social-emotional skills. The approach therefore consists of classroom and school wide practices to deliberately help children build academic and social-emotional competencies.
There are seven basic principles underlying the responsive classroom approach:
- The social curriculum is as important as the academic curriculum.
- How children learn is as important as what they learn; process and content go hand in hand.
- The greatest cognitive growth occurs through social interaction.
- There is a set of social skills children need in order to be successful academically and socially: cooperation, assertion, responsibility, empathy, and self-control.
- Knowing the children we teach–individually, culturally, and developmentally–is as important as knowing the content we teach.
- Knowing the families of the children we teach and working with them as partners is essential to children’s education.
- How the adults at school work together is as important as individual competence; lasting change begins with the adult community.
Integrated Themes
Integrated curriculum is a way to make connections between subjects and make learning more meaningful to students. In order to teach all of the important subjects in an effective and comprehensive manner, MWJDS has developed a curriculum that is grade level specific, which involves integrated themes of Science, Social Studies, and Jewish Studies.
Kindergarten theme for the year is “It is a Tree of Life.” We will be learning about the Torah, how it is made, its many parts and its significance in our lives. We will also be studying trees throughout the year. The children will learn about the life cycle of a tree, trees in each season, leaves, flowers buds and seeds. In addition they will investigate resources from trees. We will think about our own “roots” as we explore our community and create our own family trees. Another example of integrating themes is demonstrated by our first science unit “Sink/ Float” in conjunction with our Parsha of Noah and the Flood.
1st grade will learn how to be the “Guardians of the Earth.” Our science and social studies units will connect with our theme as will literature, class discussions, hands-on activities, and poetry. We will raise awareness among ourselves and our community of how we treat the earth.
2nd grade’s yearly theme is Kevod HaBeriot, Honoring Human Beings. “If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? If not now, when?” ~ Hillel, Ethics of the Fathers, 1:14. We will focus on self-respect, respecting others and appreciating differences. This theme will link throughout our curriculum and integrate with our social studies of ourselves and the world.
3rd grade water will be an integrated theme throughout the year, “Ushavtem mayim b’sason” (and they will draw water with joy) ~ Isaiah 12:3. We will explore water and how it pertains to our lives and our environment through the following areas: Community building/Getting to know you; The Water Cycle; Wampanoag/ Pilgrims; Massachusetts history; The Physics of Sounds; Biographies; Animal Research Reports; Israel as the Homeland for the Jewish People.
4th grade students will study liberty, as it states in Leviticus 25:10 “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.” Our social studies and Judaic studies curriculum will be tied very deeply to this theme and we will continue to weave the idea of liberty throughout our other areas of study.
5th grade & 6th grade will focus on the complex issues of environment, global citizenry, and V’Ahavta L’reicha Kamocha (Love your neighbor as yourself) as their themes. Exploration will be done through questioning:
- What impact do we have on the environment?
- What choices can we make that could improve our relationship with nature?
- What does it mean to be a global citizen?
- Why should we care what is happening in other parts of the world?
- Who are our “neighbors?”
- What does it mean to “love your neighbor as yourself?”
These themes will be integrated into our all of our content areas including science, social studies, literacy and Judaic studies. Another focus is on Social Justice and turning our themes into actions!
One of the main cornerstones of our program this year will be learning through experiences. Tying into our global theme, we will be bringing the world into our classroom and our classroom into the world! Each month we have field trips planned, including our 4-day overnight trip to the TEVA Learning Center in Connecticut. Other trips will include math outings to Harvard Square, an overnight at the Museum of Science in Boston, and a trip to the Mapparium. In addition to all of our field trips, we are planning to have a variety of experts come to our classroom to give us real world experiences that will provide us to have a unique set of electives from which to choose.