Educational Commitments
We are striving to create a learning community with an integrated Judaic and secular curriculum. We expose our children and their families to the wonderful texts and cultural components of our tradition. We educate for literacy in both Western and Jewish culture. Hebrew is an important component of our curriculum. A literacy consultant is an integral part of our staff, ensuring that all students meet the Massachusetts Frameworks curriculum. To create this learning environment, our teachers will be learners as well, since we know that excellent and continually developing teachers will be the key to our success.
Beginning our journey in Kindergarten, MWJDS plans to craft the entire learning experience in such a way so that Jewish themes and content integrate with all other subject disciplines. When students explore the cycles of the year, their studies include the sun and the moon, caterpillars and butterflies, Rosh Hashanah, and where we all come from in the generations of our family. Science looks at the lifecycle of the caterpillar, math at shapes and ordering. When they study the ocean life, their studies will be accentuated with traditional blessings to be recited when viewing the ocean and they will learn Biblical tales of the sea, like Jonah and the big fish. Music and art explore these themes as well.
Our Hebrew lessons, primarily focused on oral language, incorporate the vocabulary associated with the themes. Native Hebrew speakers receive instruction at their level.
These integrated moments are enhanced by daily lessons in the Jewish studies curriculum including Torah, mitzvot, prayer, holidays and Israel. Our joyful weekly Shabbat celebration includes cooking and preparation, as well as song and dance. Ours is a text - based, child-centered education that encourages students to lovingly embrace the Jewish values of learning and living. In order to create a community where all families and children can feel comfortable, we maintain a kosher kitchen and ask students to bring dairy, kosher lunches. The school calendar will follow traditional holiday observances.
Residents of Framingham receive free transportation from the Town of Framingham for all students living more than one mile from the school. Other families commute from adjoining towns and are eager to form carpools. In addition, for families who need after school care, MWJDS has arranged for families to participate in the YMCA afterschool program at Dunning Elementary School in Framingham.
MWJDS welcomes students who wish to enroll after kindergarten and will make every effort to ease the transition for new students and their families.
MWJDS is a pluralistic, trans-denominational Jewish environment: a community where individual differences are respected and honored. Our student body, faculty, and staff are diverse in backgrounds and experiences. We opened in the Fall of 2003 with grades K-1 and will add a grade each year up to grade eight. The school is located at the former Juniper Hill School in Framingham, a recently renovated and upgraded elementary school. In addition to classroom space, MWJDS uses the cafeteria, the gymnasium, the two outdoor play areas and soccer field, as well as the central office areas. We will be adding classroom space as we grow.
We are planning on small class sizes of 16-18 students per grade to allow for individual attention and a child-centered approach. We will be particularly attentive to the learning styles of our students.
As a community institution, we are committed to making MWJDS financially accessible to any family. It is important to note that our tuition is far less than the real costs of educating a child at our school. Due to generous donor support, tuition assistance is available and we encourage families to apply. The tuition assistance program is administered by a small committee of the school in concert with School and Student Service for Financial Aid (SSS) in Princeton, NJ.
We strongly encourage visits to the school and encourage you to call or e-mail our Director of Recruitment and Admissions, Joyce Bohnen (508-620-5554, joyce.bohnen@mwjds.org), to arrange to see our school and to meet our Head of School, Carolyn Keller. Applications will be available mid-October from our offices or online at www.mwjds.org. Applications are due by mid-January of each year.