One of the reasons Vardi pursued this position is because JDS has such a strong, pluralistic community. Vardi believes that many of the values she holds align with the values the school espouses. Tikkun Olam (repairing the world), for example, is infused into the JDS curriculum. “That’s sort of beyond community service,” Vardi said. “But how do you empower students to go out and be change-makers in the world?” Vardi is also a big believer in experiential education. When she was in high school, Vardi joined a program called Amigas de Los Amer-
FAST FACTS Vardi made an appearance as Madonna in “The Wedding Singer,” the musical at Bullis. Vardi spent one month studying Russian at Pushkin Language Institute in Moscow, Russia.
icas, where she spent four weeks in northern Costa Rica vaccinating baby cows. This specific experience altered the way she values experiential learning and global studies. Vardi believes working in education taught her to take risks, persevere and always be a learner. She is enrolled in Harvard’s Certificate in School Management and Leadership online course, and she has recently finished the Leading People course and hopes to finish the other courses in the program over the next year. She is looking forward to getting to know the high school stu-
dents and is prepared to incorporate her background into her new role. “I can only bring in my values and I can only bring in my learning,” Vardi said. “I think it’s premature to say, ‘Here is my vision and here is what I want to do.’ I can bring in my experiences, I can look, learn and listen.”
Catching up with former principal Marc Lindner A look into the past administrator’s new job at Sinai Akiba Academy in California Dr. Lindner overlooking the beautiful view of Los Angeles from his home. Stepping into the new role as Head of School at Sinai Akiba Academy.
Mischa Trainor Editor-in-Chief Former principal Dr. Marc Lindner returned to Los Angeles to assume the role of Head of School at Sinai Akiba Academy. Lindner was High School Principal and Associate Head of School of CESJDS for four years. During his time, he oversaw the beginning of distance learning. As Head of School, Lindner oversees all of the operations of the school, supervises all the administrators, works on the budget and represents the Sinai Akiba Academy community. Sinai Akiba Academy is a Jewish day school that runs from kindergarten through eighth grade. “My favorite part about my new job is that I get to build on a very strong foundation, strong Jewish tradition, Jewish values that have been here and find ways to move the school to its next levels
“We hope to be able to visit and definitely welcome anybody from JDS that happens to be visiting, you know, LA we’d love to see them.” -Dr. Marc Lindner
and to the future,” Lindner said. Lindnerhenjoyedjmany aspects of JDS during his time working there, and he believes that JDS is an amazing school that excels both in general and Judaic studies. “When I moved to Maryland to work at JDS, I had the expectation that it was really [one of the best] Jewish day schools in the country in terms of its program, both in general studies and Judaics, or Jewish studies. That was true. And I still believe that to be true,” Lindner said. “So I miss, you know, all of the excellent work that students and faculty do at JDS.” Lindner and his family made the move from Maryland to California over the summer. Despite moving cross country during a pandemic and having to observe social distancing guidelines, it went well. Lindner
and his family lived in California previously so coming back was an easy adjustment. “This is where my wife grew up. She was born here and where she grew up, where I lived for 20 years before we moved to Maryland. So it felt very much like just coming back home,” Lindner said. The people at JDS are one of the things that Lindner misses the most about his time there. Lindner and his family look forward to visiting Maryland in the future and reconnecting with the JDS community. “I miss the people at JDS,” Lindner said. “JDS is a fabulous, wonderful community of bright, ambitious, smart, soulful people in my opinion, and I really do miss the people very much and the entire community.”
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