of Development and Communications

Dear Friends,

Twenty-one years ago, I thought that choosing a school for our eldest child would only tangentially impact me; little did I know that the decision would change the trajectory of our entire family. That singular decision to send our son to JCDS led to my forging deep friendships, a new career path, and a greater sense of purpose.

So what brought us to JCDS? In researching schools, we heard buzzwords that meant little to us, but as a welltrained lawyer, I did my due diligence. I spoke with friends, acquaintances, and teachers, and we visited multiple schools. While visiting JCDS, however, something felt different the moment we walked through the door. It was warm and joyful, and we saw highly engaged and confident students everywhere. We witnessed teachers moving around their classrooms, enthusiastically encouraging students to speak up, and Hebrew was ever present; on bulletin boards and whiteboards – spoken at lunch and on the playground. “This is it,” we thought . . . a school that combines an extraordinary secular education along with deep thinking and questioning that comes with text study, and all within the truly bilingual curriculum we sought.

The emphasis on teaching children how to think rather than what to think gives JCDS graduates an incredibly strong foundation. Our three children, now young adults, continue to carry with them all of the skills they learned at JCDS – from public speaking, to powerful writing skills, to the ability to explain their thinking and opinions. And yes, they are joyfully Jewish!

Looking back, I realize that in my childhood, the long stretches of time that I spent in Israel with extended family were infused with joy. Not surprisingly, for me JCDS represented warmth and community and felt like home. When you consider where to invest your philanthropic dollars, ponder this: Is a JCDS education the kind of education that our children deserve? Is this the kind of education that benefits the broader community because of what our graduates bring to the workforce and to society?

Please join me in investing in our students, our faculty, and our future. Together we will ensure that JCDS will continue to graduate students who are well prepared to tackle whatever lies ahead.