Messages from the Head of School

Everyone thrives on routine.  We have weekly, monthly, and daily cycles and routines that give life a sense of order and purpose.  Getting up each morning is eased by the fact that I know exactly the steps I must take from the time my alarm rings to the time I am at...

Chidushim B’Chinuch—Insights into Education Fourteenth of an Ongoing Series When we speak about Jewish education, we most likely have in mind the Jewish day school.  Especially here in Montreal, where Jewish schools have been strong, successful, popular and...

Tu B’shevat is a time when modern Jews consider their responsibility towards the environment and God’s world, as I pointed out in my last column.  Inspired by a number of Akiva students who have taken it upon themselves to spearhead grassroots environmental efforts at...

Chidushim B’Chinuch—Insights into Education Thirteenth of an Ongoing Series This Monday was Tu B’Shevat, the Jewish Arbor Day or New Year of the Trees.  In modern times, Tu B’Shevat has become a day of ecological awareness, the Jewish Earth Day.  In Hebrew schools, Tu...

Chidushim B’Chinuch—Insights into Education Twelfth of an Ongoing Series Last week we explored Plato’s proposal for compulsory education, the goal of which is to develop in the child a balanced soul that reaches its potential.  Plato called this ideal the Virtuous...

Chidushim B’chinuch—Insights into Education Eleventh in an Ongoing Series Most people have asked this question at some point in their academic careers, and most parents have had to answer this query for their children.  With elementary school students, the question is...

Chidushim B’Chinuch—Insights into Education Tenth of an Ongoing Series Watching Akiva students participate in prayer services, one would never know that prayer, or tefillah, in Hebrew, is considered the greatest educational challenge in the Jewish day school world. ...