Local Schools Join Forces to Serve up Education Innovation

Local schools join forces to serve up education innovation

Two local Jewish day schools have joined forces to think outside the box of traditional classroom models to offer students a unique approach to experiential and cooperative learning. The initiative is called Integrated Community, or Kehillah M’shulevet and provides a weekly opportunity for students to cross the lake to each other’s campuses and engage in innovative learning experiences.

Integrated Community is bringing together 5th graders from the Seattle Jewish Community School (SJCS), an independent K-5th grade school located in the Green Lake area and the Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle (JDS), an independent K-8th grade school in Bellevue, to embark on a year of collaborative academic and experiential learning. With transportation provided, the students will alternate campuses every Wednesday offering unique opportunities to expand their intellectual, social, and personal development.  

Some of the planned opportunities include a competitive robotics team, service learning projects tied to environmental causes and the local Jewish community, and intensive, immersive learning in a joint trip to IslandWood with the Seattle Hebrew Academy. Students won’t be the only ones crossing the lake to create new community connections. As part of the Integrated Community initiative, parents and students will also meet for monthly gatherings. 

A programmatic highlight will be guest educator Dikla Kafa, a local Jewish educator and Yoga instructor, who is actively involved across a number of local Jewish organizations including the Israeli American Council, Limmud Seattle and Jewish Federation. Dikla will bring her unique spiritual approach to an inspiring series of reflective and meaningful text studies. “We should never underestimate the depth of our students’ understanding  and their search for meaning and purpose,” explains Meghan Kimpton, JDS Head of School. 

David Zimand, SJCS Head of School was equally enthusiastic about the possibilities of introducing the next generation to new ways of learning and connecting across communities. “This program is all about connections: East Side and North Seattle, children and parents, timely challenges and timeless wisdom. We can think of no better way to step toward the future — toward a brighter future — than in a kehillah m’shulevet, an integrated community.”

With students alternating weeks on different campuses, opportunities abound for special programs. Current planning directly involves teachers from both schools, who are excited to take full advantage of the opportunities for their 5th grade students. Gabrielle Azose, who has deep connections to both participating institutions as a parent and faculty member, will serve as the point person and liaison overseeing coordination efforts together with her teaching colleagues on both campuses. “This collaborative initiative is fostering exciting opportunities — educationally and communally — for our students, our faculty, our institutions, and our parents alike. I am truly excited to be a part of it.”  said Ms. Azose.

The Integrated Community initiative is designed to both build upon the schools’ reputation for academic excellence and make their programs a magnet for families seeking educational innovation.