Author: Jon Mitzmacher

Dr. Jon Mitzmacher is the Head of the Ottawa Jewish Community School. Jon is studying to be a rabbi at the Academy for Jewish Religion and is on the faculty of the Day School Leadership Training Institute (DSLTI) as a mentor. He was most recently the VP of Innovation for Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools. He is the former Executive Director of the Schechter Day School Network. He is also the former head of the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School, a K-8 Solomon Schechter, located in Jacksonville, FL, and part of the Jacksonville Jewish Center. He was the founding head of the Solomon Schechter Day School of Las Vegas. Jon has worked in all aspects of Jewish Education from camping to congregations and everything in between.

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo: What one Jewish Day School Head learned on his Disney vacation

http://youtu.be/_TKBHJeEljU

Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo from the Disney film, Cinderella, 1950. Copyright Disney.

Lyrics:

Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo
Put ’em together and what have you got
bibbidi-bobbidi-boo
Salagadoola mechicka boola bibbidi-bobbidi-boo
It’ll do magic believe it or not

I do believe it.

I spent the majority of the last week with my family on a Disney cruise. (My poor children were crushed on our first night back home to discover that no one had created elaborate towel animals on their beds or left chocolates on their pillows!) We have cruised a bit in the past, but a “Disney cruise” is a completely different creature. Disney is not messing around – no one takes customer service more seriously. As the days moved on and memories piled up one on top of the next, like any good reflective practitioner, it occurred to me that it would be worth reflecting on what lessons might Disney have to offer me in my (not-with-mouse-ears) Jewish Day School Head’s hat.

Let me begin by stating clearly that I am hardly the first or best one to think about this question. I am most familiar with my former American Jewish University (then University of Judaism) professor, Dr. Ron Wolfson’s work in this arena. He is well-known for bringing students to Disneyland for a firsthand taste followed by reflection and application. [Click here for a brief article about Dr. Wolfson’s work and here for his book, “The Spirituality of Welcoming: How to Transform Your Congregation Into a Sacred Community”, where he shares his work in this area.] I am not sure how much I can add to the conversation, but when in Disney…

Cleanliness is next to Princess-liness

I have never seen a cruise ship, or even a large room, as meticulously groomed as the Disney Dream. Whether they were soaking up moisture on the pool deck in order to avoid slipping or polishing the brass railings at 11:30 at night, someone was always cleaning up something somewhere at sometime. Details are important and appearance does matter. Students are not employees, I realize, but I would like to see our student body take more pride in our school’s appearance. It doesn’t matter who you are or what role you play in the organization – caring about picking up litter, taking an extra half-second to clean your shoes on the way inside, not standing by while someone else damages property – pride shows through.

Everyone is a Greeter

This comes straight from Dr. Wolfson’s work – it is a core Disney principle that each employee understands that they are a “greeter” first. For our school to truly embrace a “spirituality of welcoming” each student, teacher, parent, staff person, etc., would recognize that they have a responsibility to make everyone else feel welcome in our school. It extends well beyond greeting a stranger – imagine how much closer we would be towards becoming a true Community of Kindness (here, here and here) if we treated each other as someone deserving of the feeling of being truly welcome. Older students looking out for younger students. Teachers looking out for parents. Parents looking out for teachers. What struck me on the cruise is how clearly this cut across hierarchical lines – the maintenance person swabbing the deck and the captain of the dining room treated each of my daughters like true princesses. [Insert gratuitous photo here.]

Time is of the Essence

There is not a minute of wasted time on a Disney cruise. They have constructed a schedule to allow for a maximal experience. We certainly know the challenges of doing the same in a Jewish day school! I am finishing up presently a revised schedule for our Lower School and it has taken hours and hours and still isn’t quite ready. [Spoiler Alert! It will for the first time make transparent hours of instruction dedicated to each subject. I think it will be a most positive surprise.] It is a worthy goal to make each moment of our Jewish day school be filled with maximum meaning.

Personal Navigation

This may be my favorite one (and one that I will likely think the most deeply about in the weeks to come). The Disney cruise line calls their daily schedule a “personal navigator” and I don’t think it is simply a matter of semantics. They create a schedule which allows each customer to clearly identify which activities create the most meaning – activities for each demographic, activities for different lifestyles, activities that bridge and activities that winnow, etc. We would sit down as a family each evening to plan out the next day, factoring in the interests and abilities of our complete family – the four of us plus my wife’s father and wife. The schedule was our invitation to take responsibility for meaning-making.

I talk a lot in my work about how the truest reflections of a school’s values can be found in two places – the budget and the schedule. If you want to know what a school really believes to be important you need not go any farther than how it chooses to spend its money and its time.

As we continue to walk down the common paths of differentiation and 21st century learning, the answer to the question posed in Alan November’s new book “Who Owns the Learning?” is obvious: The Student. If the student owns the learning, how does that impact what we teach, how we teach, when we teach, etc?

What would it mean to organize learning by the paradigm of personal navigation?

I hate to mix metaphors on a Friday afternoon, but as one moves from student to teacher to principal, one peeks behind the curtain and realizes that the Wizard is simply a person like anyone else. Similarly as to how one moves from camper to counselor to rosh at summer camp and one realizes how the magic is made. But it doesn’t make the experience any less magical for the student or the camper just because there was a science behind the magic-making. My daughters’ experience of the Disney Dream was magical even if I know how they did it.

I realize that creating a culture at our school that embraces these ideas will be harder than singing “bibbidi-bobbidi-boo”. But if we could achieve them? Well that would be some real magic.

Summer Bloggin’

Flip flops.

If I only had one image to distinguish between the school year and the summertime, this would be it. My goal each year is to wear no socks between the last day of school and the first day of Faculty Pre-Planning in mid-August. This is typically the only summer goal I am guaranteed to meet as I, like many, have a stack of books and projects on hold from the workaday school year to make my way through. But in the spirit of buying new running shoes to shame oneself into exercising, I thought I would publicly out my summer agenda with the hope that it will similarly inspire me to make some headway.

First up? Hire the rest of the faculty! I blogged, here, about our amazing lineup of teachers and staff for 2012-2013 and the few positions still to be filled. We wrapped up Faculty Post-Planning on Tuesday and began interviews yesterday. We have some good candidates and I expect to have two or three out of the four openings filled within a couple of weeks (Kindergarten Assistant, Fourth Grade Assistant and Middle School Math). One takeaway from the process is how much clearer I am able to be about who we are as a school and who we think would make a good fit for our faculty. I am pleased after two years to have such clarity and am grateful to our faculty and lay leadership that we have reached this place. As the names become finalized, I will share, but this is one summer goal that will rightfully be achieved as quickly (and correctly) as possible.

Speaking of “Post-Planning”…earlier this week we had a wonderful two-day seminar with new and returning faculty to plant seeds to be sown upon our return in August. Topics included:

End-of-Year Reflection
AR/STAR Reading
“Learning to blog FOR your students”
iPads in the Classroom
“How will I spend my summer vacation?”

The last session involved a conversation about our mutual responsibility to continue collaborative professional development through the summer, which for us will include required participation in one of four Summer Book Clubs that we have created and added to our faculty ning. Each Book Club will be moderated by a member of our 21st Century Learning Team. Each teacher will be required to create a product (they choose the form) that demonstrates their professional learning that will be shared during Pre-Planning.

If we ask all of our students to do “Summer Reading” and “Math Review” and we are the role models for lifelong learning, do we not have a responsibility to do no less?

So what will we be reading this summer that will positively impact our craft?

Book Club: Outliers In this stunning new book, Malcolm Gladwell takes us on an intellectual journey through the world of “outliers”–the best and the brightest, the most famous and the most successful. He asks the question: what makes high-achievers different? His answer is that we pay too much attention to what successful people are like, and too little attention to where they are from: that is, their culture, their family, their generation, and the idiosyncratic experiences of their upbringing. Along the way he explains the secrets of software billionaires, what it takes to be a great soccer player, why Asians are good at math, and what made the Beatles the greatest rock band. –Amazon

Book Club: Who Owns the Learning? by Alan November [Spoiler Alert: Our school is mentioned in the book!] Learn how to harness students’ natural curiosity to develop self-directed learners. Discover how technology allows students to take ownership of their learning, create and share learning tools, and participate in work that is meaningful to them and others. Real-life examples illustrate how every student can become a teacher and a global publisher. Link to Amazon (Paper Book) Link to Amazon (Kindle Edition)

Book Club: 21st Century Skills This club will discuss James Bellanca’s anthology, 21st Century Skills: Rethinking How Students Learn (2010.)

Book Club: The Daily 5 Discussion group for the book “The Daily 5: Fostering Literacy Independence in the Elementary Grades.”

I am going to do my very best to read all four this summer in addition to my own professional development reading, which I’ve been tweeting about and will blog about later on down the road.

What else is on tap?

Preparing for the official launch of Galinsky Academy!

I blogged at length about the vision for our new “academy” approach to Jewish education at the Jacksonville Jewish Center, here. It is amazing that one year after the dream was dreamt it will come true this July. In addition to all the other tasks required to successfully launch, our summer will be spent thinking, planning and developing a branding and marketing approach for the academy and its member schools. It is an extraordinarily exciting time as our newly named DuBow Preschool is being physically transformed this summer so its facility’s excellence matches its programatic. Renovation moves to the second story of the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School to match last summer’s amazing transformation. The Bernard & Alice Selevan Religious School will add its very own support staff person this July to enhance customer service and is working this summer to build on last year’s successful launch of a pilot program in Grade Three modeled after the successful Project Etgar it already uses in middle school grades. And our Makom Hebrew High looks to build momentum heading into its third year.

Sounds like a full summer!

And since this is the first summer since 2003 (!) that I will not have the psychic weight of working on my doctorate…I guess I’ll also spend time with my wife, daughters, friends and family. [Insert gratuitous photo.]

Yes, summer vacation has officially begun. But the learning and growing never ceases…it just goes barefoot.

A Unified Theory of Jewish Day School Sustainability

[NOTE: This was originally published on 6/6/12 on the PEJE blog and on 6/7/12 on the eJewish Philanthropy blog.]

I am sitting at JFK International Airport typing on my iPad, charging my iPhone, and missing my iFamily. But airports are sometimes ideal places for forced reflection, and these hours waiting for my flight home have provided me some much-needed time to reflect on the relationship between the recently held edJEWcon conference and a meeting I was privileged to attend this morning at the AVI CHAI Foundation.
edJEWcon, which was sponsored by AVI CHAI and the Schechter Day School Network, was an attempt to bring 21 Jewish day schools and 14 partner agencies together for an “Institute on Teaching & Learning.” If you look through all the sessions offered at edJEWcon, you will not find one that deals with “financial sustainability.”

So why would the good folks at PEJE ask me to blog about how edJEWcon impacts financial sustainability?

I believe it is because the field has been keenly interested in seeing how educational technology might positively impact the budgets of Jewish day schools, and not just the quality of instruction. If online, virtual, or blended learning can reduce the cost of Jewish day school education while increasing (or at least maintaining) the quality of Jewish day school education, we might find a so-called Unified Theory of Jewish Day School Affordability.

There are two assumptions about this theory and the AVI CHAI-sponsored meeting I attended this morning, to my surprise, challenged both.

It could be that outsourcing content creation (including course instruction and assessment) to online vendors—and here it could be either General or Jewish Studies—will in fact lead schools to reduce their faculties. It is not clear that Jewish day schools, unless they are start-ups that see outsourcing content creation as part of their core mission, are prepared to really reduce their faculties. It could be that the content is not yet sufficiently adequate. Or that the content is not yet sufficiently adaptable. Or that a lack of sufficient benchmarks across all forms of Jewish day schools allows for the creation of affordable content.
And it could be that, when push comes to shove, we really do believe that teachers make a huge difference and we aren’t ready yet to make painful decisions.

Judging from today’s conversation, the answer appears to be all of the above.

If the rush to embrace 21st century learning and educational technology does not lead to cost-cutting for Jewish day schools, it’s hard to imagine it contributing meaningfully to a conversation about financial sustainability. In fact, if not managed appropriately, 21^st century learning even runs the risk of making schools less financially sustainable because of increased technology costs.

My “a-ha” moment came in conversation with Rebecca Coen, founding head of a new high-tech Orthodox Yeshiva in Los Angeles called Yeshiva High Tech. We were talking after the meeting, and it occurred to me that part of the dissonance I experience in these meetings comes from different markets, given that non-Orthodox and Orthodox Jewish day schools are all scrambling to maintain and add to their student populations.

From Coen’s perspective, her population cannot afford the tuition of Jewish day school, period. They are choosing public school over Orthodox Jewish day school. Her only option is to provide the best possible education for the lowest possible price (that is my interpretation not her words) and educational technology may, indeed, allow her to do this.

For me, however, even though there are plenty of families who cannot afford our tuition and are choosing public school, there are also plenty of families who can afford our tuition (or more), but are choosing to spend it on elite secular independent schools. Lowering my tuition is not going to attract them. Increasing the quality of my school hopefully will. Investing in 21st century learning and educational technology may, indeed, allow me to do this.

These are just the experiences of two schools. I want to know more. Have birth rates changed this conversation? Do Orthodox families have more children to the degree that Jewish day school is simply not affordable regardless of the means of the family? What is the percentage of non-Orthodox families who have the means, but choose to spend it elsewhere?

Twenty-first century learning may indeed provide important paths toward the financial sustainability of Jewish day school, but it might take more than one form depending on the model or movement. These are exciting times, as schools, agencies, and foundations are ready to dream dreams. The crisis of day school affordability is very real. The promise of 21st century learning and educational technology is equally real. I look forward to more conversations, more experiments, more research, and more sharing. Whether there is one answer or many, it will take us all to discover them.

The Transparency Files: Introducing the 2012-2013 MJGDS Faculty!

It is hard to believe that we are already in the last week of school! Graduation was this morning at 10:30 AM, the last day is tomorrow, and for teachers summer begins next week!

Just as last year, we want to follow up conversations about standardized test results (here), annual parent surveys (here) and my own self-evalaution (here) with announcing as much as we can about who the primary people will be charged to take that data and make the next year even better than this one – the 2012-2013 MJGDS Faculty & Staff.

Before I provide the list, I want to highlight four things:

We have a few more openings than I typically have heading into summer. We are still searching for a (second) Middle School Math Teacher, a Kindergarten Assistant, a First Grade Assistant, and a Fourth Grade Assistant. I have been collecting resumes and have begun the process of conducting interviews. I hope all four positions are secured in the upcoming weeks. However, we shall not rush. Each position is important and due diligence shall be taken.
All Grades in K-5 will be redoing their schedules so as to delineate dedicated instructional time for each General Studies topic: Language Arts, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies. Those schedules will be published when complete. In addition, Mrs. Jo-Ann Kagan will be taking on Science instruction in Grades Three-Five. We feel this level of specificity and engagement is necessary to ensure we are providing the highest quality Science program possible.
We will be making an additional exciting change to our Fourth & Fifth Grade Program for 2012-2013. Mrs. Stephanie Teitelbaum will remain the Fourth Grade General Studies Homeroom Teacher and Mrs. Shelly Zavon will remain the Fifth Grade General Studies Teacher. But in a move to create a more successful bridge between the Lower & Middle Schools, and to benefit from “looping” and “departmentalization” beginning next year, Mrs. Teitelbaum will teach Language Arts for Grades 4 & 5 and Mrs. Zavon will teach Mathematics and Social Studies for Grades 4 & 5. [NOTE: We are not combining classes nor team-teaching.] Studies prove that the first quarter of each school year is lost while teachers “learn” their students—assessing their academic levels, evaluating their behavior, figuring out how to motivate, etc. By looping—rotating students from one specialized teacher and class to the next–students and teachers bypass wasted time and are instead able to better focus and be focused on. With Looping, students in Grades 4 & 5 have the same Mathematics, Language Arts, and Science teachers across two school years providing greater consistency and understanding for both student and teacher. This form of specialization called departmentalization allows each teacher to instruct to their own passions and strengths. Student’s benefit from each teacher’s talents and subject specialization maximizes individualized instruction. What’s more, subject specialization lends itself to clearer and more frequent assessments. Parents will better understand where their child is in a subject and be able to more closely monitor their progress. Looping and departmentalization are designed to work in tandem to accomplish more—more focus, more understanding, and more learning—and all in the same amount of time. We are very excited about this change for next year!
We have two new fabulous teachers to introduce!

Introducing our new First Grade General Studies Teacher, Ms. Pamela Lewis! Ms. Lewis is a former MJGDS student and current JJC Camp KiTov CIT Director. Ms. Lewis is graduating this year from the University of North Florida and comes to us with glowing recommendations from all her student teaching assignments. She wowed us during her interviews and model lesson with her energy, ideas and positive attitude. We are pleased to welcome her back home to MJGDS and look forward to her having a long, successful career on our faculty.
Introducing our new Third Grade General Studies Teacher, Mr. Seth Carpenter! Mr. Carpenter has his Masters from the University of Pittsburgh and has taught successfully in St. Johns County and in Pittsburgh, PA. He and his wife are the proud parents of two, including an incoming MJGDS Kindergartner! In addition to his teaching experience, he also brings a love and talent for the arts that comes from his experience as a professional actor and artist with the Cirque du Soleil. We are looking forward to Mr. Carpenter’s energy and creativity for years to come!

And now without further adieu, the 2012-2013 MJGDS Faculty & Staff:

Lower School General Studies Faculty

Kindergarten: Mrs. Arlene Yegelwel & (A second teacher to be hired soon!)
First Grade: Ms. Pamela Lewis & (A second teacher to be hired soon!)
Second Grade: Ms. Amy Stein & Mrs. Shannon McVearry
Third Grade: Mr. Seth Carpenter & Mrs. Carla Bernard
Fourth Grade: Mrs. Stephanie Teitelbaum & (A second teacher to be hired soon!)
Fifth Grade: Mrs. Shelly Zavon

Lower School Jewish Studies Faculty

Kitah Gan: Morah Edith (Ita) Horovitz & Morah Mazal Spalter
Kitah Alef: Morah Robin (Rachel) Morris & Morah Hannah Bendit
Kitah Bet: Morah Rivka Cohen
Kitah Gimmel: Morah Liat Walker & Morah Mazal Spalter
Kitah Dalet: Morah Rivka Cohen
Kitah Hay: Morah Liat Walker

Kitah Bet-Gimmel Resource Teacher: Morah Rivkah Ohayon
Kitah Dalet-Hay Resource Teacher: Morah Mazal Spalter

Middle School Faculty

Science: Mrs. Susan Burkhart
Social Studies: Mrs. Judy Reppert
Language Arts: Mrs. Deb Kuhr
Middle School Mathematics: Mrs. Lauren Resnick & (A second teacher to be named soon!)
Hebrew & Rabbinics: Morah Rivka Ohayon
Hebrew & Mitzvot: Morah Edith (Ita) Horovitz
Hebrew & Bible: Rabbi Jesse Olitzky
Rabbinics: Rabbi Jonathan Lubliner

Resource Teachers

Music: Mrs. Jeanine Hoff
Art: Mrs. Shana Gutterman
PE: Coach Jared Goldman
Jewish Music & Tefillah: Hazzan Jesse Holzer

21st Century Learning Team

Director of Teaching & Learning: Mrs. Andrea Hernandez
21st Century Learning Specialist: Mrs. Silvia Tolisano
Library & Media Specialist: Mrs. Karin Hallett
Academic Resource Specialist: Mrs. Jo-Ann Kagan
Technology Coordinator: Mrs. Kim Glasgal

MJGDS Administrative Team

Administrative Assistant: Mrs. Jessie Roman
Executive Assistant: Mrs. Robyn Waring
Admissions & Marketing Director: Mrs. Talie Zaifert
Middle School Vice-Principal: Mrs. Edith Horovitz
Head of School: Dr. Jon Mitzmacher

I will provide updates to our staffing as it becomes final and, of course, remain always available for questions or concerns. It has been a remarkable 50th anniversary year at the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School. Next year, we kick off another amazing half-century!

The Transparency Files: Standardized Testing

I continue to suffer mixed emotions with regard to high-stakes testing. I blogged last year, here, on that topic and on the test we take here at the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills or ITBS. Despite those mixed emotions, after conducting a thorough analysis, we did go ahead and publish our results. The “results” consisted of sharing the “Grade Equivalent Scores” for each grade in our school for each of the three major areas we test for: Language, Reading and Math. You can revisit how we analyzed the data and how we chose to present it, here.

I joked in that blog post that if I did not blog the results in the next year, it will have meant that we took a dip! That was a joke, and in fact, as I will show below we, again, scored quite well. Before posting, however, I want to state clearly that these are gross oversimplifications. We have disparate class sizes and welcome a diverse student body. It is valuable data – both the class averages and tracking classes over time. It is why we take the tests; they provide one valuable data point among many.

The other issue is in the proper understanding of what a “grade equivalent score” really is. For a detailed explanation, I encourage reading this source, here. But to quote the source:

Grade-equivalent scores attempt to show at what grade level and month your child is functioning. However, grade-equivalent scores are not able to show this. Let me use an example to illustrate this. In reading comprehension, your son scored a 7.3 grade equivalent. The seven represents the grade level while the 3 represents the month. 7.3 would represent the seventh grade, third month, which is December. The reason it is the third month is because September is zero, October is one, etc. It is not true though that your son is functioning at the seventh grade level since he was never tested on seventh grade material. He was only tested on fifth grade material. That’s why the grade-equivalent scores should not be used to decide at what grade level a students is functioning.

So…not to put to fine a point on it…higher scores are better than lower scores. Tracking the grades over time, one would like to see…

The same grade score as well or better each year. BUT – it depends significantly on the makeup of the class and where they were prior. AND
The same class grow at least a year’s worth of growth. BUT – it depends significantly on the class remaining exactly the same (which is rare) and is a pretty fuzzy statistic to begin with because it is an average.

With all those caveats in mind, in the spirit of full transparency, and with the attitude that all data is valuable data, allow me to present comparative data from last year and this year. How did we do?

First up? Language.

Remember…in order to track a class you have to compare 2011 to 2012. For example, in 2011, the Language Grade Equivalent of Average for Grade Two was 3.4. In 2012, those kids are now in Grade Three and scored 5.1. That class “grew” 1.7 from last year to this. (Also, the scale stops at 13…it is the highest score available.)

Confused?

What does this graph tell us?

It tells me that each grade scored at just about the same or higher all across the board. And in the one grade where it “slipped,” Grade Six? 10.3 is an awfully high number for Grade 6 (even if it doesn’t mean they are like a Grade Ten class)!

It also tells me that each class grew at least one grade equivalency from 2011 to 2012 (technically Grade One grew .9). Again, great data.

Let’s move on to Reading.

Very similar to the one before. Grades are maintaining excellence from last year and growth is nearly a year in each grade (and in some cases significantly higher)!

So far, so good…and frankly, what we would have expected. The one place where we might see some unpredictability is in Math. We went ahead and overhauled our entire Lower School Math curriculum by adopting Singapore Math in Grades K-5. We expected transition issues the first year. How did we do?

Here we find a few surprises. We would have assumed (and, in fact did) that the transition would be easier in the lowest grades and harder in the higher ones. And maybe it was for the students and the teachers. But our test scores reflect the opposite. The grade scores are flat (or slightly higher) in Grades K-3, but jump up in Grades 4 & 5. The class scores show tremendous growth of more than a year’s growth across the board. (The only exception came in Grade One, which only “grew” .6 from the prior year. There are lots of factors involved in testing and one hesitates to draw too many conclusions from one test. It will be noted for observation. One is also sensitive to teachers’ feelings in being this transparent. Their courage at this level of exposure is to be commended.)

This, we hope, is the first bump of Singapore Math with bigger bumps to come. We are also pleased that our Middle School Math scores remain consistently excellent.

So, as with last year, all receiving teachers will have prior years’ data and be charged with making the next year even better. They have been up to the task the last two years and we look forward to more learning, more growth and more excellence in the year to come.

Speaking of the year to come? Wonder who will be teaching what next year? Stay tuned to next week’s blog post!

The Transparency Files: Annual Parent Survey

After making transparent the results of my own evaluation by both myself and my faculty, here, it is time to turn to our other annual survey: the Annual Parent Survey.

For comparison sake, you are welcome to explore last year’s survey, here.

I will try to highlight any trends I see between the two years as well as indicate anything of import in this year’s survey.

The first trend is that far fewer parents (39 vs. 64) filled out surveys this year. Possible explanations? We did have an incorrect link to the survey that may have taken the air out of the sails of the first families to attempt to fill them out. We had an additional snafu with the settings to allow families to fill out multiple surveys for multiple children, which is the recommendation, that did get corrected, but perhaps too late for some parents to sign on. Other possibilities? Families could be thrilled with what’s going on! (I’d love to vote for that one!) Families could be resigned that the results are not taken seriously enough to invest the time in. Hopefully, the impact of last year’s results in tangible changes for this year would have dulled that sentiment, but you never know.

Nevertheless, the rate of return is less and, therefore, the possibility of strong validity is somewhat reduced. But in the spirit of hoping to learn from whatever there is to learn…let’s move on to the results!

A little more even than last year, but still skewed a bit towards the younger grades, as expected in school surveys. Let’s look at the BIG PICTURE:

That’s terrific! On a scale of 1-10, our average score wound up being 8.3. Last year we scored 7.7. So it is trending in the right direction, it is an indication that we are doing pretty well, but still leaves us soon room to grow. Let’s dig deeper.

When it comes to communication, we continue to have high marks. It looks very similar to last year in that both our highest marks continue to be in communication via electronic means and the lowest marks coming in providing opportunities for parents to be involved in student learning. This is a disappointment. We were to have found some new ideas for improving parent partnerships this year, and it did not seem to resonate. We will have to do better next year to raise this up.

Last year, I blogged this survey’s results prior to my self-evaluation. This year, for no particular reason, they are reversed. In combination with my faculty’s review of myself, my own self-evaluation, and the 360 evaluation performed by my colleagues and direct reports, this additional data (although with a reduced sample size) validates a lot of what I am proud of and confirms areas for growth. The scores are basically the same as last year, but I am disappointed that the impression of our enforcement of the student code of conduct is no higher than it was a year ago. Perhaps it is a failure of communication rather than a failure of execution, but I was hoping to see this number go up this year. I will do some reflecting this summer and aim to do better in the future. I am also disappointed, but less surprised, to see my marks in “Accessibility” take a dip as well. I have absolutely been less accessible this year. It was not by design, and in many cases necessary to serve the greater good (FCIS Re-Accreditation, edJEWcon, the 50th Anniversary, etc.), but no less true and no less worthy of reversal in the years to come.

I know it is a little crowded, so let me break down some of the highlights.

Let me unpack the non-subject specific areas first:

Most important increase! The education offered at our school is high quality: 8.28 (this year) vs. 7.72 (last year)
Our lowest mark last year was for teaching in different styles. I am pleased that it is now 7.21 vs. 6.98. I would have liked it to be “much higher” as I indicated last year, but at least it is trending in the right direction.
I am very pleased that teaching to different levels is also up: 7.8 vs. 7.18. This is hopefully an indication of increased emphasis on differentiated instruction, even though that specific question (How satisfied are you that your child is getting individualized attention?) scored exactly the same, 7.77, as last year.

General Studies:

The big picture is great! The OVERALL rating has gone to 7.97 from last year’s 7.19. That is a trend in the right direction.
This is reflected in increases in the two weakest areas from last year: Math (7.77 from 6.71) and Science (7.33 from 6.87). Hopefully this is the impact of the transition to Singapore Math and having provided more opportunities for children in the Lower School to be in the Science Lab this year.
ALL General Studies scores are up from last year! But there is still room to grow. Math and Science will be even more enhanced next year with more training and experience in Singapore Math and dedicated, transparent Science time on the Lower School schedule.

Jewish Studies, Resources and Extracurricular Activities:

The marks in these areas are all slightly down from last year. Not dramatically so, but noticeable. I’m not sure if this is a result of extra emphasis being pulled to General Studies, changes in our policies to Jewish Studies (such as the required pull-out for new students in Grades 2-5), or simply a statistical anomaly, but worthy of further reflection and study.
Our weakest area from last year, After School Activities, did jump from to 7.04 from 6.19, which we hope is a result of the new Enhanced Kindergarten Program and our new partnership with the JCA.

So there you have it for 2011-2012! Thanks to all the parents who took the time and care to fill out surveys. In addition to the multiple choice questions, there were opportunities for open-ended responses. They added an additional layer of depth; one which is difficult to summarize for a post like this. But please know that all comments will be shared with those they concern as we use this data to make enhancements and improvements headed into next year. By the by, we are pleased with how well satisfied our parents are with how the school is going…but be assured, just like with everything else, we expect to see growth and progress in a school where there is “a floor, but no ceiling”.

The Transparency Files: Evaluation of Self

Before moving into what will be a series of “Transparency Files” blog posts which will begin with my own evaluation, then move to reveal the results of this year’s Parent Survey, follow with a discussion on this year’s standardized testing, and conclude with a conversation about next year’s faculty and schedule, let me take a moment to provide an update and a request.

It is with mixed feelings of sadness and appreciation that I have to announce the following transitions with regard to our present faculty. Due to her husband’s pending orders with our United States military at the end of the calendar year, we will be saying good-bye to Mrs. Kristi O’Neill in Grade One. We thank her for the time spent in teaching in our Preschool and Day School and look forward to her subbing plentifully until they leave Jacksonville for parts as yet unknown. We will also be saying good-bye to our Mrs. Rogo in Grade Three after 10 wonderfully enthusiastic and passionate years. Marjie Rogozinski has been the picture of optimism and creativity over her decade teaching in our school and as she vehemently insists she is NOT retiring…merely transitioning! We look forward to seeing her smile grace our hallways and classrooms for years to come.

The search process to replace both irreplaceable teachers is underway. It will consist of multiple interviews with myself and multiple faculty, collaborative lesson planning, and observed model lessons – all to ensure that the newest members of our team are best fits for the school we have worked so hard to become. I look forward to announcing our decisions in short order. Any parent with questions or concerns is welcome to email or see me at their earliest convenience.

And now let is awkwardly dance away from discussion of others to discussion of self…

…we are in that “evaluation” time of year. I have the responsibility for performing the evaluation of staff and faculty each year. Fittingly, they have an opportunity to do the same of me. Our annual Faculty Survey presents current teachers and staff with the opportunity to provide anonymous feedback of my performance as head of school. It is sent unedited to the Head Support & Evaluation Committee as part of their data collection for my evaluation. Other data points for that evaluation include 360 evaluations from colleagues and my own self-evaluation.

[To see a discussion of my evaluation from last year, feel free and click here.] My self-evaluation is based on new goals I have created myself for this year. You will not find a complete laundry list of my day to day responsibilities. Here are the relevant components from my self-evaluation for the 2011-2012 academic year:

Jon’s Self-Evaluation “Students” (5/11/12):

A few of my goals overwhelmed the others in what was a year of many new initiatives (KoleinuJax, Singapore Math, etc.) and important projects (the “Task Force”, FCIS Re-Accreditation, the “50^th”, etc.). Our Faculty did make revisions to the standards and benchmarks that were created in 2010-2011 in time for their inclusion in admissions packets for 2011-2012. This will become an annual process of ongoing curriculum revision for faculty.

We had a positive transition into Singapore Math, although additional training should have been provided throughout the course of the academic year. ITBS scores in this area are up and teacher attitudes about our Lower School Math program are much more optimistic. We will need to invest more time next year in transitioning new teachers to the curriculum and providing more training for returning teachers so we can continue to improve our delivery of this new curriculum.

We now have two year’s worth of data from our Annual Parent & Faculty Surveys, which will be used to identify areas of growth throughout our school. We also did a first annual 9^th Grade Alumni Survey. It did yield less than a 50% response…we will seek better next year. What did come back, however, was overwhelmingly positive!

A change in personnel brought a new “21^st Century Librarian” to our team that has much enriched our “21^st Century Learning” team!

Among our biggest successes, has been our work with KoleinuJax to provide services and resources to parents, students and teachers of special needs students in our school. The rate of assessment, observation and services delivered is way up. Our ability to meet the needs of diverse learners and special needs students is much-improved and looks to be even stronger in the years to come.

Jon’s Self-Evaluation “Faculty” (5/11/12):

I have felt the most compromised in terms of my time management to work effectively on growth in this arena. I do think there has been improvement in areas tangible (the bulletin board in the Faculty Lounge) and intangible (I do think morale this year is high), but with my time stretched so thin, I have not been available to be present with my faculty, as I would have liked to have. The relationships that needed building did not get the time they needed for that nurturance. Although some projects are complete, new responsibilities lie ahead – I will seek to do better despite the challenges.

We did a terrific job this year in providing deeper and more frequent professional development. In addition to our annual Tal AM training for Jewish Studies Teachers in Grades 1-5, we provided training for a MS Rabbinics Teacher, ongoing coaching and support from our 21^st Century Learning Team, peer sharing through interactive faculty meetings and presentations, all culminating in the great success that was edJEWcon 5772.0

One area we did not get to that I would like to address next years is the creation of new assessment tools. We did create a new rubric for 21^st century teaching that was piloted as part of formal observations. Next year, I look forward to shared leadership of supervision with both the 21^st Century Learning Team and peer evaluation.

Jon’s Self-Evaluation “Parents” (5/11/12):

I did spend a significant amount of time this year working with the clergy on a variety of “Academy”-related another projects. The synagogue launched a “Camp Shabbat” program that I have helped flesh out and participated in. I have participated in a variety of other synagogue-based programs and worked hard to involve all our clergy in school-based programs.

We (Jaimee and I) began inviting different groups of parents representing all facets of congregational life for Shabbat and holiday observances at our home. It is always tricky because you don’t want to leave anyone out, so we are doing our best to be as inclusive as possible.

I will be sharing the unedited version of my self-evalation as well as the unedited version of their evaluation of me on our Faculty Ning. Hopefully it will spark further opportunities for conversation and growth.

Next week? The Annual Parent Survey!

MJGDS 50th Anniversary Speech

What a magical evening last night was!

I was asked if I would publish my remarks and it is, of course, my pleasure to do so.

50^th Anniversary Gala Speech

I come before you this evening with unbridled gratitude and extreme humility. I am in but my second year and I stand on the shoulders of giants like Marilyn Sandler, Willard Kennedy and Carole Goldberg who are with us tonight for this extraordinary evening. It is but a quirk of the calendar that brings me to the dais as head of this special school during its 50^th anniversary year. Without their monumental gifts of talent, time and love, this milestone could not have been reached. I may be the one standing on stage tonight, but they are the ones who built it.

What a true blessing this weekend has been! The anniversary was 50 years in the making; the planning for it has been almost a full year. We have and will continue to thank the volunteers and staff who dedicated untold hours of care so we could celebrate this historic event in the life of our school, our synagogue, and our Jewish community. I would like to take the prerogative of the moment, however, to add my personal appreciation for a person for whom no words of praise are sufficient. Mauri Mizrahi has been my rock and my partner these last two years and never has a lay leader worked or cared so much. No one, except maybe Alan, will ever know how much effort and energy she has given to guarantee that the beginning of the next fifty years of our school will match, if not exceed, the fifty glorious years we are honoring tonight.

We have spent a weekend reliving and celebrating the past and the present. And as we have seen tonight, there is much to be proud of. Our alumni’s achievements astound; our volunteers’ passion unmatched; and our faculty’s love unrivaled. And as twenty-one schools and fourteen agencies validated this past weekend at edJEWcon, our present is fulfilling the promise of our past. But this is not merely a celebration of and for the Day School. This is an achievement that required the vision and courage of a synagogue to found a Jewish day school in Jacksonville, Florida. This is a moment only reached because of a Jewish community that continues to believe in the power of Jewish education. This is a dream fulfilled because of the support of a generous and forward-thinking Jewish Federation. Our hearts overflow with the outpouring of support this anniversary has generated.

And we are not merely celebrating the past this evening. We are ensuring the future. And it will be a future filled with academic achievement and passion for Judaism for our Day School and for all the schools of the Jacksonville Jewish Center. And it begins with a story…

Samuel and Esther Galinsky were, by all accounts, modest and unassuming members of our synagogue. They participated in synagogue life and were respected members of the congregation. They cared about Jewish education, but had no children of their own. They were, in many ways, like any other couple. When they died, their friends mourned their passing. And that should be the end of the story. But it isn’t. Because this ordinary couple did something extraordinary. With no fanfare and no notice, Samuel and Esther Galinsky left the Jacksonville Jewish Center amongst the most significant gifts it has ever received – $3 million. And it was given for one purpose – this childless couple gave their fortune to ensure that Jewish children would be able to have a Jewish education. Has there even been a more selfless gift? Have any people ever more embodied the idea of L’dor V’dor?

And so it is in the spirit of this gift – of that remarkable couple – that we officially announce the creation of what will forever now be known as “Galinsky Academy”.

[Reveal model.]

Galinsky Academy declares our intent to live up to the charge the Galinsky’s have given us – to provide Jewish children of all ages the highest quality education possible. Galinsky Academy consists of all the schools of the Jacksonville Jewish Center – our Preschool, the Bernard & Alice Selevan Religious School, the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School, and Makom Hebrew High. It represents our commitment that all of our children – regardless of the path their parents choose – will benefit from the finest teachers, an engaged clergy, the highest-quality curriculum, and the most cutting-edge technology. Galinsky Academy will be a 21^st century learning organization like no other. No artificial boundaries. No territories. No excuses.

Tonight we set the course towards the future. Just as those pioneers fifty years ago bravely created a day school in spite of the obstacles, we tonight create an academy unlike any that has ever been created before. We will walk in our founders’ footsteps and dream in big and bold colors. And like them, we will need the ongoing support of our community to make those dreams come true. We have surpassed our wildest dreams in this magical year in terms of fundraising, but let no one think the work of funding Jewish education is done or even on hold. We continue to live in difficult economic times. L’dor V’dor becomes our Academy’s most important annual fund and we hope you will be inspired to continue to support this fund each year as a key component to sustaining the future of all our schools.

Finally, this evening, I have the pleasure of one more special announcement. In the spirit of the Galinsky Academy, the Bernard and Alice Selevan Religious School, and the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School, another family has stepped forward to do their part to ensure that each child in the Academy will begin their educational journey on the right foot.

[Reveal label.]

I welcome you to the new DuBow Preschool. Children in the DuBow Preschool will spend their early years in a state-of-the art facility and will experience a world-class preschool education. They will be set on a path towards academic excellence and Jewish identification. Our appreciation to the DuBow Family is limitless – the gift they have given the children of our community is priceless.

The gift they have given is also unique – it marks the first gift endowed to Galinksy Academy. It will not only benefit our preschool, but all the schools of the academy. We are confident that this will be the first of many Academy-endowed gifts that will allow our schools to deliver on our promises and inspire our children to be their best.

And so tonight we pause to shed naches at what was and to prepare for what will be. As it says in the Mishnah: “Lo alecha ha’mlacha legmor…” – “It is not incumbent on you to finish the work, neither are you free to exempt yourself from it.” (Mishnah: Avot, 2.16). As the proud head of the Martin J. Gottlieb Day School and the first head of the Galinsky Academy, I am inspired to do my part – with you – to carry this dream forward into the next fifty years.

Thank you.

An edJEWcon Reflection

edJEWcon.

Wow.

How’s that for an honest and succinct reflection! But that is truly how I feel coming out of an experience unlike any I have ever had. I feel equal parts “proud parent”, “exhausted midwife”, “exhilarated student”, and “inspired principal”.

First, here are some facts:

We had twenty-one amazing school teams for this first conference on 21st century Jewish day school education:

We had amazing sponsors:

We had amazing partners:

We had amazing major keynotes: Heidi Hayes Jacobs and Angela Maiers.

http://youtu.be/Xcw8hCljj5I

http://youtu.be/dc9AOfIXPxg

We had one extra-special partner, Mike Fisher, without whom the conference would not not have been the same.

I had a team unlike no other. I use the word “midwife” to partially describe my experience, because truthfully this was conceived prior to my arrival. It began with Andrea Hernandez and moved forward with Silvia Tolisano. I was blessed to arrive in the right time and in the right place. I’ve played my part, but without the foundation they built over the last four years, none of this would have been possible. Our story and the story of edJEWcon 5772.0 is partially contained in our opening keynote:

http://youtu.be/qtf4_YALfHY

You can begin to grasp the impact of the conference by flipping through the blogs written by the school teams (here) and the partners (here). Angela Maiers shocked the house and stimulated the most amount of tweets and “ah’s” when she showed us a site that tracks Twitter activity that showed us that our conference of under 100 had reached over 117,000 people within 24 hours. The outpouring of positivity is extraordinary. The proud parent in me is thrilled to see so many firsts – first blog posts written and first Tweets abound. It is a cornucopia of shehecheyanu moments – blessings of firsts and blessings for having been there in that place and at that time.

My full live blog of Heidi Hayes Jacobs’ keynote (here) is a series of exclamation points from a breathless schoolgirl. [Much less sophisticated than Mike Fisher’s! (here)] Here is the exhilarated student in me:

What an extraordinary thrill to have Heidi Hayes Jacobs speaking at our school and at edJEWcon!
She opened by giving a shout out to the MJGDS Middle School!
The Hebrew root for “teach” is also to “learn”.
“Strategic Replacement” – Remember it!
All MS students have been paired with an adult to help them use TodaysMeet – edJEWcon. We are all now all on TodaysMeet and beginning to dialogue. She is sharing why TodaysMeet is better for some functions than Twitter. It is closed and temporary.
You can save the transcript and use it in the future!
Next bookmark is the Curriculum 21.com/clearinghouse.
People are now moving into groups of three or four for an activity. Prezi.com is a new site for many. It is also an app for the iPad.
The goal for everyone is to leave “emotionally disturbed”!
Who owns the learning? The student!
The back-channel conversation on TodaysMeet is dynamic. I am selfishly proud of our students who are contributing great feedback
Heads of schools should have steering wheels to give them illusion of control.
…this is about adult discomfort. Ammend your mission statemetnts and be honest about what year are your educating your children for.
“Democratized socially created knowledge”
All students should learn to create their own app before they graduate.
No one learns in a straight line.
What you study matters. Content matters. And it cannot wait.
Text messaging as note taking – great idea.
Quality counts. The tools are great, but we still have to teach quality – quality blogs, quality movie-making, quality Skype – quality, quality, quality.
We should eliminate Facuty Meetings and turn them into opportunities for teachers to explore new tools.
Teachers have to be learners in order to teachers.
There is no closure!

As for the inspired principal? I’m over the moon.

This was a tremendous validation for our faculty, parents, students, stakeholders, and our community that the path we have chosen is indeed the right one. This “21st century learning” thing is no fad and no slogan. We can become a school who prepares our students to be successful in these modern times. Or not (as Heidi Hayes Jacobs would say). We can provide our students with authentic tasks that motivate them to learn and be their best. Or not. We can recognize what technology allows us to do. Or not. We can take the ideas, suggestions and inspiration from edJEWcon and use them to move our school down the 21st century learning road. Or not.

We could start planning for edJEWcon 5773.1. Or not.

What do you think?

Nine Days

I was going to try to get out with another “too busy to blog” tweets (like I did last week), but I have, in fact, spent a good chunk of my day editing the premiere of “Jon’s 2nd #NoOfficeDay with a #PrincipalStudentSwap” movie! Yes, I am three weeks behind, but it was now or never. It is still a bit rawer than I would like (and longer), but I still prefer the “now” to the “never”.

I blogged the background to the video, here. It ends, perhaps, the first chapter in our “Community of Kindness” conversation that I have blogged about here, here, and here. My swap partner, Shoshana H., is still working on her version of the day, and you can check out her blog, here, for updates.

It was a wonderful experience to not only get out of my office (you can read the blog and see the movie of my first #NoOfficeDay, here), but to live life for a day like one of our students. I think the students enjoyed it as well. I’m not sure I’ll be able to squeeze in a third this year, but our students know that if they create their own two-minute “Community of Kindness” videos, they are liable to earn themselves a good ol’ swap!

So, without further adieu, I present “Jon’s 2nd #NoOfficeDay with a #PrincipalStudentSwap”:

The next nine days will be among the most amazing, exciting, enjoyable, moving and monumental in our school’s history. Sunday begins edJEWcon 5772.0 and later that week we begin celebrating our 50th Anniversary! I will blog about them both in the weeks to come. And if that wasn’t enough, in our final weeks I still need to blog about:

Our Annual Parent Survey
Our Annual Faculty Survey
Our ITBS Results
Big Plans for the Future!

It is going to be quite a ride during these final weeks to the school year!