Category: Transparency Files

The Transparency Files: The 2022-2023 Faculty

Happy Thursday!

Things don’t usually time out quite in this way, but here we are on literally the last day of school – for teachers – and before we head into Canada Day Weekend and the true start of summer, it is my sincere joy and pleasure to be able to share out a complete picture of the amazing human beings who will be teaching our children and leading our school into the 2022-2023 school year at the Ottawa Jewish Community School.

The quickest of words before I unveil the list…

…the first is simply to share that we are operating under the belief that next year will truly be a return to normal.  Or at least normal enough that it ought not impact how we divide up classes or how we program our days and year.  Of course, we will continue to maintain a Health Advisory Committee, and much closer to the start of the school year, will provide parents with what guidelines and suggestions we believe are appropriate for the start of next school year.  But as we put together our staffing picture, our classroom assignments and our calendar, we are assuming near-normal functioning.

…the second is to share with you the overarching idea that has animated our two days of what we call “Pre-Pre-Planning” – these two PD days that essentially mark the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year because they focus our teachers on how to set themselves up for a successful summer in service of a successful start to school.  We are focusing our energy on “Getting Our Mojo Back” or, perhaps, the “Great Unpause” – it is time for our school to reclaim the exciting and innovative trajectory we were on pre-COVID.  We were smack in the middle of some very important and impactful projects, initiatives and programs and we are all-too ready to get back on track.  You may get a hint of it when looking at some of the job descriptions below; you will get a full (re)introduction to it as we gear up for next year.

…the third is to please start paying attention to the updated calendar.  A return to normal means a return to events like our PTA-sponsored “Back to School BBQ” and “Meet & Greets” for JK and SK, so please be sure to update your calendars so you are ready to join us as we look to (re)build our community, to truly function again as an OJCS Family.

…the fourth is a gentle reminder that the assignments below are tentative as they always are.  Things sometimes can and do change (especially as our JK and SK classes continue to grow!), although we believe this should be much less of a factor this summer than the prior two, but sometimes we do have to make adjustments.  If an update is required, of course, it will be sent either directly to the impacted grades or in a blog post.

OK, I think I have given a lengthy enough preamble.  Let’s get excited about this gifted and loving group of teachers and administrators, who will partner with our parents in the sacred work of educating our children.  I know I am!

The 2022-2023 OJCS Faculty & Staff

Lower School General Studies Faculty

  • Junior Kindergarten: Susan Wollock, Jamie Ebbs (French) & Mushki Kurtz (EA)
  • Kindergarten: Andréa Black, Susan Wollock (French) & Dawn Schneider (EA)
  • Grade One: Julie Bennett/Karissa Zuorro & Efi Mouchou (French) [TWO Classes]
  • Grade Two: Ann-Lynn Rapoport & Efi Mouchou (French) [TWO Classes]
  • Grade Three: Lianna Krantzberg & Aaron Polowin (French)
  • Grade Four: Faye Mellenthin, Chelsea Cleveland (Math), Dr. Sylvie Raymond (Core) & Aaron Polowin (Extended) [TWO Classes]
  • Grade Five: Abby Whitteker, Karissa Zuorro (Core) & Dr. Sylvie Raymond (Extended) [TWO Classes]

Lower School Jewish Studies Faculty

  • Kitah JK: Susan Wollock
  • Kitah Gan: Andréa Black
  • Kitah Alef: Ada Aizenberg/Saar Baram [TWO Classes]
  • Kitah Bet: Corrine Baray/Sigal Baray [TWO Classes]
  • Kitah Gimmel: Sigal Baray
  • Kitah Dalet: Dana Doron [TWO Classes]
  • Kitah Hay: Marina Riklin/Liat Levy [TWO Classes]

Middle School Faculty

  • Science: Josh Ray
  • Mathematics: Chelsea Cleveland (Grades 6 & 7) & Josh Ray (Grade 8)
  • Language Arts: Language Arts Teacher
  • Social Studies: Michael Washerstein
  • Extended French: Wanda Canaan
  • Core French: Aaron Polowin (Grade 6) & Dr. Sylvie Raymond (Grades 7 & 8)
  • Hebrew: Marina Riklin (Hebrew Alef), Liat Levy (Hebrew Bet for Grade 6) & Ruthie Lebovich (Hebrew Bet for 7 & 8)
  • Jewish Studies: Mike Washerstein
  • Rabbinics: Corinne Baray

Specialists

  • Art & Drama: Jamie Ebbs
  • French Language PE: Stéphane Cinanni (Grades 3-8), Aaron Polowin (Grades 1 & 2) & Karissa Zuorro (Grades JK-1)
  • Library: Brigitte Ruel

Leads

  • Makerspace: Josh Ray
  • Mitzvah Trips: Michael Washerstein
  • Student Life: Lianna Krantzberg
  • Blogging & Global Connectedness: Julie Bennett
  • Jewish Studies Curriculum: Ada Aizenberg
  • Jewish Studies Coaching: Ruthie Lebovich

Department of Special Education

  • Keren Gordon, Vice Principal
  • Sharon Reichstein, Director of Special Education
  • Ashley Beswick, Resource Teacher & Behavior Support Coordinator
  • Resource Teacher
  • Chelsea Cleveland, Math Resource

Administration

  • Josh Max – Director of Technology
  • Ellie Kamil – Executive Assistant to the Head of School
  • Staci Zemlak-Kenter – Director of Development
  • Emily Jiang – Chief Accountant
  • Jennifer Greenberg – Director of Recruitment
  • Keren Gordon – Vice Principal
  • Dr. Jon Mitzmacher – Head of School

You will see some new names and some new categories…

Let me start my saying that unlike previous years where the generic names, like “Middle School Language Arts Teacher” means that we have not yet hired someone, I am over-the-moon thrilled to say that we are actually 100% staffed for next year!  However, until contracts have been technically signed and current employers informed, we will have to wait a titch before formally introducing those last couple of employees.  But we will as soon as we can, and, we can’t wait for you to be as impressed by them as we are.

You will see a new category “Leads”.  This category, for now, replaces an older category of quasi-administrators that we had been calling “Coordinators”.  There are some internally meaningful, union-related differences between the two titles, but what is important to know is that these “Leads” all represent opportunities for OJCS teachers to build their leadership capacity by taking on quasi-administrative responsibility for high-value new or continuing programs.  We have written extensively about the OJCS Makerspace and OJCS Mitzvah Trips, and, therefore, it should come as no surprise that we are making them priorities heading into next school year.  “Student Life” and “Blogging” are in some ways carryovers from portfolios held by two teachers currently on maternity leave, but also opportunities for new teachers to both grow their leadership and help our school grow in these critical areas as well.

The last thing to mention as a segue to providing brief bios on new staff is that we have made a tactical decision to move away – at least for now – from pursuing a “Head of Jewish Studies” who has all the education, skills and experiences we have been searching for, but have failed to find.  It isn’t that we couldn’t or won’t keep looking for that just-right person, but there are too many important pieces of work that need to be done in our Jewish Studies Department to keep waiting for that savior to arrive.  We are very blessed that we have been able to essentially divide the position into five parts and that each part has been assigned to someone capable, talented, passionate and ready to go.  In a nutshell…

…I will continue to hold onto the supervision and evaluation of Jewish Studies Faculty.  It is the one part of the job that I have successfully managed during these last few years, and I believe it is both appropriate and helpful for me to keep that in my portfolio for the future.

…our JS Faculty have been in need of great mentoring and coaching and there can be no better person qualified to do that, then our own Ruthie Lebovich, master teacher with decades of experience.

…”Jewish Student Life” and “Student Life” don’t need to be kept separate in a Jewish Day School, and with Lianna Krantzberg moving into this role, between her experiences here and her administrative role at CBB-Ottawa, this merger will be both seamless and powerful.

…we have been waiting to move forward with some big-picture benchmarks and standards decisions in Jewish Studies.  What exactly do we expect students at OJCS to learn by the end of Grade 8?  What experiences do we want for them?  What is the best curriculum to support those goals?  We are past due finalizing what we expect each child, in each grade, in each part of our Jewish Studies program to learn, to know, to know how, to experience, etc., and Ada Aizenberg will be just the person to lead our team in this project.

…and we have needed a real live human being to take back the teaching of text and rabbinics in our school, and so let me now segue into the introductions…

Please welcome Corinne Baray into a permanent position at OJCS!  Ms. Baray is well known to our school community as a very respected guest teacher.  She is a PhD candidate in the Department of Law and Legal Studies at Carleton University. She is a graduate of OJCS and the former Yitzhak Rabin High School. While her research interests surround the area of criminal law, Corinne has a particular passion for education and pedagogy.  Corinne is also an Instructor and Course Developer at Carleton University, and has taught at all academic levels, including elementary, high school, and college – as well as ESL education for elementary students in Rishon Letzion, Israel.  She has vast experience teaching in Jewish schools, has a breadth and depth of Torah and text skills, and will be a welcome addition to our Jewish Studies Faculty.

Jamie Ebbs is thrilled to join our Faculty with a diverse portfolio.  He will be creating and leading our Arts and Drama programs, as well as teaching Junior Kindergarten French and Physical Education in French.  Jamie graduated from the University of Ottawa, Bachelor of Education’s Imagination, Creativity and Innovation Cohort.  He also has a Master Degree in Cultural Studies, as well as an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Theatre.  We’ve scooped him up so he can sprinkle this love of the arts into all we do.

Efi Mouchou is relocating to Ottawa this summer from Greece with her beautiful family and looks so forward to meeting our school community.  Madame Efi is a certified teacher who completed her studies at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia.  She has taught French to all grade-levels in locations around the world over the last 20 years, however most often in International British school settings.  She is so excited to be teaching our Grade 1 & 2 French classes next year and has so much to offer our students with already developed programs from her own repertoire, as well as from close conversations with our primary French faculty.  Madame Efi is so full of life and is passionate about making French language learning fun and we look forward to welcoming her to OJCS.

Please note that I intend to take a pause from weekly blogging as we head into summer.  Of course, should the spirit move me, or an issue arises that warrants it, I will blog intermittently, until resuming my weekly routine a week or so before our teachers return for Pre-Planning Week 2022.

Happy summer!

The Transparency Files: Annual Parent Survey

Looking out my office window at the sunny skies [when I first wrote this on Tuesday afternoon!], is both a reminder of the first stirrings of normalcy and what we hope next year and beyond will bring… as atypical as this third year of COVID has been, we do find comfort in familiar habits and experiences.  And so if it is May, it must be time to share the results of this year’s Annual Parent Survey.  If you would like to see a full comparison with last year, you can reread those results or have them open so you can toggle back and forth.  In this post, I will try to capture the highlights and identify what trends seem worth paying attention to.

The first thing to name, which does not come as a tremendous surprise considering the times we are living through, is that we continue to have a less-than representation.   In fact, it seems that the more we grow, the percentage of students represented by the survey decreases.  Our enrollment has grown each year that I have been here, but our survey has gone from covering 81 students to 84 students to 54 students to 58 students to 52 students.  That means that this year’s survey represents barely more than a quarter of our student population!  As the survey is per student, not per family, it runs the risk of being even less representative than that.  (In the service of anonymity, we have no way of knowing how many families the survey actually represents.)  Our goal of 50% seems more and more unrealistic each year.  [If you have feedback on what might incentivize greater participation, please drop it in the comments or email it to us directly.]

I simply no longer know if or how to draw meaningful conclusions about participation rates.  Whereas it is common wisdom that folks with concerns are usually more likely to fill out these surveys, there is no common wisdom when it comes to pandemic times.  So for what we hope is one final year, instead of worrying about the motivations for why families did or didn’t fill out surveys, let’s celebrate the parents who did participate and try to make meaning of what they are telling us.

For the second consecutive year, we have more spread than normal.  It is more typical to have a big cluster in the youngest grades with diminishing returns as you get older.  Again this year, we have a healthy distribution across most of our grades.

Without knowing how representative this quarter of students is, this data for sure lines up with what is true – that we have, again, had a fast and successful re-registration.  The percentage who replied “yes” is up and the “noes” are always complicated to unpack because we have no way of knowing who of the “noes” represent graduations or relocations, as opposed to choosing to attrit prior to Grade 8).  What continues to be true is that the overwhelming majority of families – regardless of their feedback – stay with us year-after-year.  This continues to say a lot about them and a lot about us.

Let’s look at the BIG PICTURE:

The first chart gives you the weighted average satisfaction score (out of 10); the second chart gives you the breakdown by category.  I will remind you that for this and all categories, I look at the range between 7-9 as the healthy band, obviously wanting scores to be closer to 9 than to 7, and looking for scores to go up each year.  In terms of “overall satisfaction”, we have now gone from 7.13 to 7.20 to 8.17 to 7.91 to 8.0.  Although it is just a tick up from last year, the difference is statistically insignificant.  This is just the second time that no families graded the school a 1, 2 or 3.  Of course, we always want to see numbers continue to go up, but based on how we survey it is hard to get much higher.

This continues to be a good news story, but let’s dig deeper…

  • The topline number – probably the most important – like our overall satisfaction is slightly up 7.91 to 7.93 and a very positive outcome.
  • I am very pleased to see that every single category is up from last year’s all-time highs and that each score is well within the healthy range!
  • I am thrilled to see that relationships with faculty again comes in with the highest score (8.65) in this block, especially when you factor in all the challenges the of pandemic have created.  Kudos to our teachers!
  • Our lowest score (again) is again in “Homework” but it does continues to climb from 6.56 to 6.91 to 7.0 to 7.31.  Progress has been steady, and we are seeing steady improvement in the full implementation of our new Homework Philosophy.
  • I am thrilled to see such a high score (8.41) for “creative and critical thinking skills”…that is very much #TheOJCSWay.

  • After having seen steady growth on the topline number, which again is so critical to our school, it is a bit disappointing to see a drop.  We have gone from 6.61 to 6.97 to 7.58 to 7.15.  It remains well within the healthy range, but we will be looking to get back on the upward track next year.
  • The metrics for Spec Ed are a bit of mixed bag with the communication score holding steady, but the satisfaction score for those who have IEPs dipping just a bit.  The numbers remain strong and of all the things to suffer during the pandemic, it is not surprising to see it impact our most vulnerable students.  Kudos to Sharon Reichstein, our Director of Special Needs Education, and her new team for all their work this year!

  • Thrilled to see that our topline number continues to remain (essentially) at 8!
  • Very happy to see that every metric in General Studies is well into the healthy band and each one is essentially unchanged.
    • Math: 7.09 to 7.60 to 7.67 to 7.15.
    • Science: 7.09 to 7.72 to 7.61 to 8.37.
    • Social Studies: 7.41 to 7.96 to 7.95 to 7.86.
    • Reading: 6.93 to 8.0 to 7.85 to 8.29.
    • Writing: 6.51 to 7.07 t0 7.41 to 7.95
  • The biggest movement this year, which I am thrilled to see is “Science”, where we have invested precious bandwidth in Hackathons and Innovation Day and reopening the OJCS Makerspace, and in “Reading” where we have, not coincidentally, a number of teachers focusing on their professional growth.  This is a clear example over time where parent voice, aligned with teacher and student voice, leads to meaningful action.  (Fill out those surveys y’all!  We really do pay attention.)
  • I am also very pleased to see “Writing”, like “Reading” continuing on a strong upward trajectory over the last four years.

  • I am pleased to report that despite another year of COVID functioning and the continued integration, that the quarter of students represented in this survey are reporting steady numbers for French outcomes.
  • We would like to believe that the result of our TACLEF consultancy is continuing to pay dividends and that our recent announcement of expanding our French program to incorporate French-language physical education will help these numbers continue to tick up in the years ahead.  Bon travail to the French Department!

  • We are again thrilled to see all our Jewish Studies metrics continue to hold strong for another year.  We are especially pleased to see the OVERALL metric essentially hold steady from 7.29 to 8.08 to 7.91 to 7.90.  Considering, that we again went forward without filling the “Dean of Judaics” position and all the additional COVID-related challenges, this is especially encouraging.  Kol ha’kavod to the Jewish Studies Department!
  • I am taking the slight dip in “Tefillah” as a personal challenge!  It is my favourite subject to teach (students) and to coach (teachers) and I am going to make it my mission to push prayer past 7.0.
  • I am also going to – assuming a return to normal – encourage our community’s rabbis to resume a greater role in Jewish life at OJCS.

  • Considering the circumstances, it is both surprising and positive that with all the protocols that were in place that we’d see growth in both Art and PE – both of which have reentered the healthy band.  We know that even with a rigorous, trilingual curriculum, that we need to continue to offer the kinds of high-quality PE/Drama/Art experiences that make a well-rounded education.  We said last year to “look for these numbers to go back up next year”.  Mission accomplished!
  • It is worth noting that even though none of our extracurriculars, athletics, hot lunch, etc., programming has reached pre-COVID numbers (understandably) they are all up from last year…with lots of room to grow.

From this year’s experimental section, we yield these two data points (and two sets of meaningful commentary).  Compared to last year, there is a larger cluster in “very satisfied” and “extremely important” – which is likely not a coincidence.  As we cannot predict the future, even with wholehearted hope of a return to year-round, in-person learning next year, our ability to navigate situations like these last few years with minimal disruption and maximal academic progress – not to mention the continuance of meaningful Jewish experiences – will likely continue to be powerful value-adds for OJCS in the years ahead.

  • These are mostly wonderful scores, all just about the same and well into the healthy ranges.  We know that we have Ellie to thank for a lot of those high scores!
  • I am sadly saying again this year, that, “[a]fter having to take a COVID pause, I will be interested to see what the impact of ‘Student-Led Conferences’ will be on the ‘parent-teacher conferences’ metric once finally launched.

  • I have already shared my thoughts on my own job performance in my prior “Transparency Files” post.  I will simply state here my pleasure in seeing my numbers holding strong, with the weakest one – providing learning opportunities for parents and caregivers with some health post-COVID room to grow.
  • The one metric that I am very pleased to see holding strong is the last one, which essentially serves as a proxy for school-wide behavior management.  Three years ago we scored a 6.69 and I stated that, “we are working on launching a new, school-wide behavior management system next year based on the “7 Habits” and anchored in our “North Stars”.  I will be surprised if this score doesn’t go up next year.”  Well, two years ago it came in at 7.65, last year it climbed up to 8.19, and it remains high at 7.85 this year.

Last data point:

 

Remember this question was scaled 1-5.   Our score remains consistent from 4.44 to 4.34 to 4.34 (again).  I have said that I truthfully don’t know how much more there reasonably is to grow here, but we’ll keep doing our best to find out!

So there you have it for 2021-2022!

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 and a couple of experimental sections.  Your written responses added an additional layer of depth; one which is difficult to summarize for a post like this.  Please know that all comments will be shared with those they concern.  (This includes a full set of unedited and unredacted results which goes to the Head Support and Evaluation Committee of our Board of Trustees.)  As you can see, we really do use this data to make enhancements and improvements each year.

We very much wish to continue into next year, this year’s trend in maintaining and increasing positive outcomes and satisfaction.  To mix school metaphors, each year simply becomes the higher “floor” we stand upon to reach towards our North Stars.  With no ceiling, we aim to reach a little closer each time.

The Transparency Files: Self-Evaluation

With all the unpredictability of yet another pandemic year, the one thing that you can be sure of as the calendar turns to May and June, is that I will deliver you a series of “Transparency Files” blog posts!  OJCS Parents have recently received their link to our Annual Parent Survey, and so I will again begin with a self-evaluation and will continue with the sharing of results of that survey, the results from our Annual Faculty Survey (which is shared directly with them) and will conclude with a discussion of next year and an introduction of the 2022-2023 OJCS Faculty.  [If this year is more like last year, these posts will not follow week-by-week.]

We are in that “evaluation” time of year!  As Head of School, I have the responsibility of performing an 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.  Our Annual Parent Survey presents current parents with an opportunity to do the same (as part of a much larger survey of school satisfaction).  Please know that the full unedited results of both are sent onto the OJCS Board of Trustees Head Support & Evaluation Committee as part of their data collection for the execution of my annual performance review.

You are welcome to review last year’s self-evaluation post before moving onto this year’s.  Unlike in prior years, I am going to skip the cutting-and-pasting from my goal-setting document and simply present to you a few big ideas that come from my “principal’s” bucket, and not as much from my “head of school’s” bucket (i.e. fundraising, marketing, budgeting, etc.).

…one of the big highlights of the year has been the successful (re)launch of Junior Kindergarten at OJCS!  I wrote a long post in December that I encourage you check out if you want to know what makes JK at OJCS so unique and special.  A year ago we had no teacher, no students and a program on paper – we now have a master teacher, a thriving class and a program that is we know is setting up our students for success in SK.  We appreciate and respect that Jewish parents in Ottawa have choices, and our focus will be ensuring that we continue to offer a program that is unlike the others, aligned with our OJCS North Stars and best prepares students for elementary school.  Want to know more or to secure your spot for 2022-2023?  Please contact Jenn Greenberg ([email protected]) for a tour or registration materials.

…one of the biggest initiatives that we were able to “unpause” from COVID was the [soft] launch of our “Mitzvah Trips” for Middle School.  Please follow this link for the details of this initiative.  For this year, our students have collaborated on projects with Tamir and JFS and will be engaging with Hillel Lodge in the weeks to come.  More important than what I believe about this work, here is what our students believe about this work:

“It feels good to help those in need.”

“We want to continue to make others feel happy.”

“It’s nice to know that we are actually using what we learn in Jewish Studies.”

Yes, it is.  This is poised to be a game-changer for Middle School at OJCS.

…speaking of big initiatives that got “un-paused” this year?  We finally were able to move forward with the (re)launch of our OJCS Makerspace [built with a gift from the Congregation Beth Shalom Legacy Fund]. Thanks to a generous grant by the Jewish Federation of Ottawa‘s Fund for Innovative Capacity Building, OJCS worked with Future Design School over the balance of this school year on a strategic makerspace consultancy.   I shared the result of this work and its next steps in a blog post.  The relaunch of the OJCS Makerspace will help move our school that much closer to our North Stars and make learning that much more motivating and engaging for our students.  We can’t wait to see what our students invent and create!

…we held our CAIS (Canadian Association of Independent Schools) Accreditation Site Visit on May 11th!  This was the first exciting step (although I guess doing all the preliminary paperwork was pretty “exciting”!) on our journey towards accreditation – both satisfying a longstanding strategic goal and, hopefully, helping parents in our community better understand how we fit into the private school landscape, as OJCS will – eventually – join Ashbury and Elmwood as the only CAIS Accredited schools in Ottawa.  The accreditation team consisted of the Head of School and CFO from Ashbury and the Head of School of the Solomon Schechter Academy of Montreal.  We held a full schedule of activities and look forward to their feedback.

What did not get done or what still needs work?

A lot!

First order of business will be carving out a new normal that prioritizes health and safety, resuming paused activities and deciding what from COVID-functioning (like continuing to make virtual options for Parent-Teacher Conferences or Generations Day available) should carry forward.  We have learned so much as a school during these last three years and we are determined to come out stronger, wiser and better on the other side.

Second order of business will be reconnecting with our families and our community.  We aspire to be more than a school, but we have had to restrict our access and our bandwidth during these years of scarcity due to COVID.  What can we do differently next year?  What should we do differently next year?  What should PTA be and look like?  What kinds of friend-raising activities could we or should we be facilitating or encouraging for OJCS parents?  What kinds of Jewish experiences could we be promoting or providing for OJCS families?

Third order of business will be moving forward on our amazing $1.5 million reimagination of classrooms at OJCS thanks to an anonymous gift we received this year!  We are pleased to share that we have now selected an architect firm –  Figurr – and look forward to the exciting work ahead.  The future of education in Ottawa really will be built right here at OJCS!

Those are just highlights.

If you have already contributed feedback through our surveys, thank you.  [Remember the deadline for your feedback to be included in reporting is May 13th.]  Your (additional and/or direct) feedback – whether shared publicly, privately through email or social media, or shared through conversation – is greatly appreciated.  As I tell our teachers, I look forward to getting better at my job each year and I am thankful for the feedback I receive that allows me to try.

Please stay tuned for a MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT that will surely warm the hearts of those who place high value on French language and a MAJOR UPDATE on the future of Jewish Studies.  There is A LOT to be excited about as we prepare to take the next big steps forward at OJCS!

The Transparency Files: CAT4 Results (Yes, Even During COVID) Part II

Welcome to “Part II” of our analysis of this year’s CAT4 results!  In Tuesday’s post, we provided a lot of background context and shared out the simple results of how we did this year.  Here in our second post, we are now able to begin sharing comparative data, however patchy.  It will take at least one more non-COVID year before we can accurately compare the same grade and the same cohort year after year.  But we can get a taste of it with Grades 5-8.  What you have below are snapshots of the same cohort (the same group of children) from 2019 to 2021 (with bonus data from 2018’s Grade 3):

What are the key takeaways from this comparison (remembering that any score that is two grades above ending in “.9” represents the max score, like getting an “8.9” for Grade 7)?

Now bear in mind, that the metric we are normally looking at when it comes to comparing a cohort over time is whether or not we see at least one full year’s growth (on average) each year – here we are looking to see two full year’s growth since we last took the test in 2019.  This would be the place one might expect to see the full measure of COVID’s impact – these are the two years of COVID between the two tests.  However, for all four cohorts in all categories save two (2019 Grade 3 to 2021 Grade 5 “Computation & Estimation” and 2019 Grade 5 to 2021 Grade 7 “Spelling”) you see at least two full year’s growth (technically 2019 Grade 5 to 2021 Grade 7 “Computation & Estimation” was just shy) and in may cases you see more than two full year’s growth.

I’m going to say that again.

During the time of the pandemic, with all the pivots back and forth, all the many challenges of both hyflex and at-home learning, all the prolonged absences by many students (and teachers), with all the social and emotional stress and anxiety, with everything we know about what COVID has been doing to children and to families, in almost each category that we tested our students in Grades 5-8 – spending no time or energy preparing for the exams and with diverse and inclusive classes – in 22 of 24 domains we see at least the pre-COVID expected two-year gain, and in many cases we see more than two full year’s growth.

As was true with our overall scores, I was expecting to see a significant number of gaps for all the reasons I just described, but surprisingly and encouragingly, that is not what the data yields.

Let’s look at one more set data points.  We can also get a taste of how the same grade performs from one year to the next as well.  Again, we only have Grades 5-8 to look at with (with a bonus 2018 Grade 6):

Now, remember that these scores represent a completely different group of children, so it is not unusual or surprising to see variances. Teachers can only grow students from the place they received them and it is that annual growth that we are concerned with.  But over time you are looking for patterns.  Ideally each domain settles in at least a full grade above with slight fluctuations from year to year depending on that year’s particular constellation of students.  Even-better would be to see slight ticks up each year as a result of new ideas, new pedagogies, new programs, etc.  And that is actually where much of the story currently is.

In the places where we aren’t quite where we want to be, we still have work to do.  If with additional data we come to believe that Spelling or Computation & Estimation are institutional weaknesses, we will want to know whether they are weakness in every grade or do they dip in certain grades.  Between COVID and gaps in testing, we simply have no way to conclude much more than we have already laid out.  But in another year or so, we will be able to plot the trajectory of both cohorts (the same students) and grades over time to see what additional stories they tell.

To try sum up both posts, we have a lot to be proud of in our standardized test scores.  We have two areas (Spelling and Computation & Estimation) to prioritize in two grades (Five & Seven).  With regard to Spelling, it is interesting to note that when we flagged it in 2019 as a more global concern, we began providing professional growth opportunities for language arts teachers in our school on Structured Word Inquiry.  The sample sizes are too small to make grand conclusions, but it is possible that those interventions help explain why Spelling is no longer a global concern, although we do need to pay attention to where and why it is lagging where it is.  With regard to Computation & Estimation, we will – like with Spelling – have an internal conversation which may lead to PD for Math Teachers.

This fits in with the work we began on our November PD Day which focused on “Data-Driven Decision Making”.  The Math and Language Arts Teachers in Grades 5-8 will be meeting to go through CAT4 results in greater detail, with an eye towards what kinds of interventions are needed now – in this year – to fill any gaps (both for individual students and for grades); and how might we adapt about our long-term planning to ensure we are best meeting needs.

The bottom line is that our graduates – year after year – successfully place into the high school programs of their choice.  Each one had a different ceiling – they are all different – but working with them, their families and their teachers, we successfully transitioned them all to the schools (private and public) and programs (IB, Gifted, French Immersion, Arts, etc.) that they qualified for.

And now again this year, despite all the qualifications and caveats, and in the face of the most challenging set of educational circumstances any generation of students and teachers have faced, our CAT4 scores continue to demonstrate excellence.  Excellence within the grades and between them.

Not a bad place to be as we prepare to open the 2022-2023 enrollment season…

The Transparency Files: CAT4 Results (Yes, Even During COVID) Part I

This may seem like a very odd time to be sharing out results from this year’s standardized testing, which in our school is the CAT4.  We are just finishing up our first days in this year’s most recent pivot back to distance learning and we are confident that everyone – students, parents and teachers – has more pressing concerns than a very long and detailed analysis of standardized tests that we managed to squeeze in during the in-person portion of our school year.  (The post is so long that I am splitting it into two parts, and each part is still a bit lengthy.)  But with our launch of Annual Grades 9 & 12 Alumni Surveys and the opening of the admissions season for the 2022-2023 school year, one might argue that there is not a better time to be more transparent about how well we are (or aren’t) succeeding academically against an external set of benchmarks while facing extraordinary circumstances.

There is a very real question about “COVID Gaps” and the obvious impacts on children and schools from the many pivots, hyflex, hybrid, masked and socially-distanced, in-person and at-home learning experiences we have all cycled through together since March of 2020.  (I wrote earlier in the year about some of the non-academic COVID gaps that we are very much experiencing, all of which I imagine growing proportionate to the length of this current pivot.)  And it seems logical that there should be and are academic gaps, at least at the individual student level.  One might ask why we even bothered taking the CAT4 at all this year; we didn’t take it last school year for example, so it will be really hard to make meaningful apples-to-apples comparisons.  So why take them?  And why share the results, whatever they may be?

We did it for a few reasons…

The first and primary reason is that we are curious.  Curiosity may not be a “North Star” at OJCS, but it is a value.  And we are very curious to see how our standardized test scores measure up pre-COVID and post-COVID, both by grade (2019 Grade 5 v. 2021 Grade 5) and by cohort (2019 Grade 5 v. 2021 Grade 7).  We would normally be looking for patterns and outliers anyway, but now we can also look for COVID impacts as well.

Why share the results?  Because that’s what “transparency” as a value and a verb looks like.  We commit to sharing the data and our analysis regardless of outcome because we believe in the value of transparency.  We also do it because we know that for the overwhelming majority of our parents, excellence in secular academics is a non-negotiable, and that in a competitive marketplace with both well-regarded public schools and secular private schools, our parents deserve to see the school’s value proposition validated beyond anecdotes.

Now for the caveats and preemptive statements…

We have not yet shared out individual reports to our parents.  First our teachers have to have a chance to review the data to identify which test results fully resemble their children well enough to simply pass on, and which results require contextualization in private conversation.  Those contextualizing conversations will take place in the next few weeks and thereafter, we should be able to return all results.

There are a few things worth pointing out:

  • Because of COVID, this is now only our third year taking this assessment at this time of year.  We were in the process of expanding the range from Grades 3-8 in 2019, but we paused in 2020 and restricted this year’s testing to Grades 5-8.  This means that we can only compare at the grade level from 2019’s Grades 5-8 to 2021’s Grades 5-8, and we can only compare at the cohort level from 2019’s Grades 3-6 to 2021’s Grades 5-8.  And remember we have to take into account the missing year…this will make more sense in “Part II” (I hope).  Post-COVID, we will have tracking data across all grades which will allow us to see if…
    • The same grade scores as well or better each year.
    • The same cohort grows at least a year’s worth of growth.
  • The other issue is in the proper understanding of what a “grade equivalent score” really is.

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 in Grade 5 scored a 7.3 grade equivalent on his Grade 5 test. The 7 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.  He performed like a seventh grader on fifth grade material.  That’s why the grade-equivalent scores should not be used to decide at what grade level a student is functioning.

Let me finish this section by being very clear: We do not believe that standardized test scores represent the only, nor surely the best, evidence for academic success.  Our goal continues to be providing each student with a “floor, but no ceiling” representing each student’s maximum success.  Our best outcome is still producing students who become lifelong learners.

But I also don’t want to undersell the objective evidence that shows that the work we are doing here does in fact lead to tangible success.  That’s the headline, but let’s look more closely at the story.  (You may wish to zoom (no pun intended!) in a bit on whatever device you are reading this on…)

A few tips on how to read this:

  • We take this exam in the “.2” of each grade-level year.  That means that “at grade level” [again, please refer above to a more precise definition of “grade equivalent scores”] for any grade we are looking at would be 5.2, 6.2, 7.2, etc.  For example, if you are looking at Grade 6, anything below 6.2 would constitute “below grade level” and anything above 6.2 would constitute “above grade level.”
  • The maximum score for any grade is “.9” of the next year’s grade.  If, for example, you are looking at Grade 8 and see a score of 9.9, on our forms it actually reads “9.9+” – the maximum score that can be recorded.
  • Because of when we take this test – approximately two months into the school year – it is reasonable to assume a significant responsibility for results is attributable to the prior year’s teachers and experiences.  But it is very hard to tease it out exactly, of course.

What are the key takeaways from these snapshots of the entire school?

  • Looking at four different grades through six different dimensions there are only three instances (out of twenty-four) of scoring below grade-level: Grade 5 in Computation & Estimation (4.4), and Grade 7 in Spelling (6.6) and Computation & Estimation (6.0).
  • Interestingly, compared to our 2019 results, those two dimensions – Spelling and Computation & Estimation are no longer globally lower as a school relative to the other dimensions.  In 2019, for example “Spelling” was a dimension where we scored lower as a school (even if when above grade level) relative to the other dimensions.  In 2021, we don’t see “Spelling” as scoring globally below.  (That’s a good thing!)  [We also have some anecdotal evidence that a fair number of students in Grade 7 may not have finished the Computation section, leaving a fair number of questions blank – in the case of this cohort, it might be more valuable to know how well they did on the questions they actually answered (which we will do).]

What stands out the most is how exceedingly well each and every grade has done in just about each and every section.  In almost all cases, each and every grade is performing significantly above grade-level.  This is NOT what I was expecting considering the impacts of COVID over the last two years – I was fully expecting to see at least .5 (a half-year) gap globally across the grades and subjects.  This is a surprising and very encouraging set of data points.

Stay tuned for “Part II” in which we will dive into the comparative data – of both the same grade and the same cohort (the same group of students) over time – and offer some additional summarizing thoughts.

The Transparency Files: (Re)Introducing the 2021-2022 OJCS Faculty

I am looking out my window to an empty and sunny courtyard that will soon be filled with teachers, students and parents (all socially distanced of course!) in the days and weeks ahead.  As I prepare to start my fifth year as Head of OJCS, I look back in awe and gratitude at what we have accomplished thus far and – more importantly – look forward with enthusiasm and joy at all we are going to accomplish together in the years ahead, starting with the one right in front of us.

Thanks to all the parents who replied, asked questions, shared concerns, etc., after last week’s list of FAQs!  Your feedback has been really helpful and clarifying.  Hopefully you read the update on HEPA filtration in your parent email and you can track new questions and answers about all things COVID by checking the COVID FAQ page of our school’s website.

Back in June, we decided to go ahead and share out our annual “Transparency Files” post announcing the “2021-2022 OJCS Faculty” even though we knew (and stated) that it was (more than normally) subject to change.  And we were right!  We are living in complicated times and they have indeed required us to be more creative and strategic in our staffing.  Before proceeding directly to the list, let me make some exciting introductions…

It is our pleasure to introduce the newest members of our team!

  • Oriana Laderoute and Wendy MacPhee are well known to our OJCS students and parents.  This dynamic duo will be partnering to lead our Junior and Intermediate Resource Program, alongside Ashley Beswick, our Primary Special Education Lead, and Sharon Reichstein, our Director of Special Education.  Both Wendy and Oriana have formidable credentials, including their Special Education Specialist qualifications, as well as both having over three decades of teaching experience with local school boards, and internationally.  We feel extremely blessed to be welcoming them back to the OJCS family.  They both hold a deep respect for students and a passion for working with students supported by IEPs and Support Plans.
  • And speaking of worldly educators, our new Grade 5 General Studies teacher, Abby Whitteker, has just returned from several years of teaching internationally in Taiwan and Vietnam as a Lead General Studies teacher. Ms. Whitteker, a fitness enthusiast, will also be teaching Physical Education to Grades 2B, 3, 5 & 6.  She can’t wait to meet her new students and join us in following our North Stars!
  • Another new addition to OJCS, with a bright and sunny disposition is Liat Levy, who will be leading the Hebrew Aleph class at the Grade 6 level for those students who are learning above grade-level Hebrew. She will work closely with Morah Ruthie, who will continue to teach Grade 7 & 8 Hebrew Aleph. Liat, an educator with a decade of teaching experience, recently relocated from Israel with her family. She will also be supporting with Jewish Studies learning in our Lookstein classes for Grades 6-8. Liat is looking forward to meeting everyone soon. She’s also hoping to share her passion for yoga and mindfulness as a Middle School elective.
  • We are also poised to welcome Dana Doron, another Israeli educator permanently relocating her family to Ottawa soon to join our faculty. Dana is a celebrated teacher who found success at many varied schools for over two decades. She specializes in Special Education. Morah Dana looks forward to leading our Grade 4 Jewish Studies program.
  • Joining our French faculty at the Grade One level is Evie Cohen. Evie began her career at OJCS as an Occasional Teacher before moving on to teach French for many years at the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. Evie specializes in teaching in French in the primary grades and we welcome her to the OJCS fold. Evie will be collaborating closely with Madame Stephanie, who taught Grade One French last year, until she leaves for her maternity leave in October. Bienvenue, Madame Evie!
  • We are thrilled to introduce our extraordinarily talented Arts specialist, Tashi Farmilo-Marouf, who will be leading our visual arts and drama classes.  Tashi is a published children’s writer and illustrator, as well as professional visual artist. You can peek at her work here: https://www.tashisart.com.  Tashi is beyond excited to lead our students on a creative journey this school year.  She has a passion for teaching children art and some of you may already know her from her role teaching through the Sheltoons program here in Ottawa.

With these amazing newcomers joining our already phenomenal returning cast, let’s take another look at the big picture:

The 2021-2022 OJCS Faculty & Staff

Lower School General Studies Faculty

  • Junior Kindergarten: Susan Wollock (plus French) & Mushki Kurtz (EA)
  • Kindergarten: Andréa Black, Sophie Pellerin (French) & Taylor Smith (EA)
  • Grade One: Ann-Lynn Rapoport & Evie Cohen (French) [TWO Classes]
  • Grade Two: Lianna Krantzberg & Sophie Pellerin (French) [TWO Classes]
  • Grade Three: Julie Bennett & Aaron Polowin (French) [TWO Classes]
  • Grade Four: Faye Mellenthin, Aaron Polowin (Core) & Sophie Pellerin (Extended) [TWO Classes]
  • Grade Five: Abby Whitteker, Aaron Polowin (Core) & Dr. Sylvie Raymond (Extended)

Lower School Jewish Studies Faculty

  • Kitah JK: Susan Wollock
  • Kitah Gan: Andréa Black
  • Kitah Alef: Ada Aizenberg [TWO Classes]
  • Kitah Bet: Bethany Goldstein [TWO Classes]
  • Kitah Gimmel: Sigal Baray [TWO Classes]
  • Kitah Dalet: Dana Doron [TWO Classes]
  • Kitah Hay: Marina Riklin

Middle School Faculty

  • Science: Josh Ray
  • Mathematics: Chelsea Cleveland
  • Grade Six Language Arts: Mike Washerstein
  • Grades Seven & Eight Language Arts: Melissa Thompson
  • Social Studies: Deanna Bertrend
  • Extended French: Wanda Canaan
  • Core French: Dr. Sylvie Raymond
  • Hebrew: Ruthie Lebovich (Hebrew Alef for 7 & 8), Liat Levy (Hebrew Alef for 6), and Marina Riklin (Hebrew Bet)
  • Jewish Studies: Mike Washerstein
  • Rabbinics: Lookstein Virtual Jewish Academy (supervised by Liat Levy)

Specialists

  • Art: Tashi Farmilo-Merouf
  • Drama: Tashi Farmilo-Merouf
  • PE: Susan Wollock (JK), Andréa Black (SK),  Andréa Black & TBD (Grade 1), Abby Whitteker (Grades 2B, 3, 5 and 6), TBD (Grades 2A & 4)  Josh Ray & Abby Whitteker (Grade 6) & Josh Ray (Grades 7 & 8)
  • Library: Brigitte Ruel

Department of Special Education

  • Keren Gordon, Vice Principal
  • Sharon Reichstein, Director of Special Needs
  • Ashley Beswick, Resource Teacher & Behavior Support Coordinator
  • Wendy MacPhee/Oriana Laderoute, (Job-Shared) Resource Teachers
  • Chelsea Cleveland, Math Resource

Education Leadership Team

  • Melissa Thompson, Teaching & Learning Coordinator
  • Deanna Bertrend, Student Life Coordinator

Administration

  • Josh Max – Director of Technology
  • Ellie Kamil – Executive Assistant to the Head of School
  • Staci Zemlak-Kenter – Director of Development
  • Emily Jiang – Chief Accountant
  • Jennifer Greenberg – Director of Recruitment
  • Keren Gordon – Vice-Principal
  • Dr. Jon Mitzmacher – Head of School

As you can see, we have a lot to be enthusiastic about heading into this year. Wishing you a wonderful weekend as you soak up the last rays of summer.

It is going to be a GREAT Year.

#BeExcited

The Coronavirus Diaries: 2021 OJCS Safe Reopening FAQ

Here we are in mid-August and we are eagerly looking forward to welcoming back our teachers and then our students in the weeks ahead!

I am definitely staying out of the prediction business, but we remain hopeful that this year will begin to feel more like normal and that it will – perhaps – be a bit more predictable.  Either way, after the experiences of the last two school years, the Ottawa Jewish Community School is ready to deal with all issues – known and unknown – to ensure that 2021-2022 is a successful and joyous year for all our students, teachers and families.

We do recognize that there can be some churn and angst as the return of school draws closer.  We read the news and study the numbers like you do and it can sometimes feel like we are trying to put a puzzle together with new pieces constantly being dropped in.  As was true last year, we are simply doing our best to stay on top of the health guidelines, to hold awareness of what the public board and other private schools are doing, and to be as transparent as we can about what we have already decided and what remains in play.

We received provincial guidelines for reopening just a few weeks ago and have been working hard to clarify what they will mean for OJCS.

OJCS’ COVID protocols have been determined in consultation with both Ottawa Public Health, as well as the document COVID 19: Ontario Health, Safety and Operational Guidance for Schools.  OJCS will continue to prioritize the health and safety of our school community and to deeply value the importance of our partnership with parents in ensuring students who attend school have followed the protocols carefully.  We have again put together a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for your convenience.  If you do not see your question on this list – or have additional questions or concerns based on any of the answers – please do not hesitate to be in contact with the school for greater clarity.  (Please note that the entire list of FAQ will not only be uploaded to our website, but will remain dynamic so that updates and revisions will live there [not in my blog or email].)

Let’s get started…

How will cohorting work this year?

As per provincial guidelines, classes will remain smaller than typical, and while indoors, students will be housed in one hallway with an assigned entrance/exit.  Students will be masked from Kindergarten – Grade 8 [not JK], and supported through strategic classroom organization and design to maintain distance.  [The province is requiring masking in Grades 1-8; OJCS has chosen to remain consistent with last year’s success and will continue to mask in Kindergarten.]  Students will have contact across their own grade-level when outdoors for recess, where masking will be encouraged for those students who are comfortable.  Parents of twins have had their initial requests regarding class placements honoured.

Where will learning happen this school year?

Each cohort in Grades JK-3 will continue to be assigned a primary classroom where all its learning activities are designed to take place.  General, French and Jewish Studies Teachers for each grade-level will move between these assigned grade-level spaces (with students remaining in their designated classroom whenever possible).  [Students in JK have the same teachers throughout the day.]  Cohorts in Grades 4-8 will be assigned a primary classroom or learning space (i.e. the Library), but students will travel to limited additional spaces during their learning day (i.e. for language learning).

How will Nutrition Breaks work?

We will continue to have students eat supervised within their own classrooms by a strategic and consistent team member.  Middle School students will continue to access an outdoor cafeteria as long as weather permits.  All students will wash their hands or use sanitizer before eating.

Will teachers be wearing masks?

Yes!  Our teachers have been vaccinated, however they will all continue to wear masks whenever supporting students, and access face shields and protective eyewear, as needed.

What parts of the program have been adjusted to allow for a safe reopening?

  • For JK – Grade 5, Art will continue to be taught virtually in the cohort spaces with support from the grade-level team.  Morah Shira will continue to work closely with the classroom teachers.  Middle School students who select Art for their elective, will work directly with Morah Shira, masked and socially distanced.
  • Library workshops will also be taught in-person, with precautions, and all library services will be rendered virtually and contactless.
  • Recess will be scheduled by grade-level, supervised by the strategic and consistent team members, wherever possible, and will take place in scheduled and demarcated outdoor locations which will be cleaned (see below) between usages.
  • Physical Education classes will resume this school year, with masking and distancing in place.  For Middle School students, PE Uniforms will continue to NOT be worn.
  • We will be offering Dramatic Arts this school year in lieu of music, so that our students can resume engagement in meaningful arts-related activities.
  • Tefillah (even in Middle School) will take place in grade-level groupings and with COVID-wise precautions.  [A separate email to Middle School parents with more details is forthcoming.]
  • All assemblies, events, holidays, etc., will be reimagined with any necessary adjustments or virtual components to stay in compliance with guidelines.

How else have you restricted access?

As will be described in greater detail in our soon-to-be revised OJCS Handbook, we have created three different entrances and exits to the school to further separate Junior Kindergarten – Grade 1, Grades 2 – 4 and Grades 5 – 8.  Similarly, we have cohort-specific bathroom access to those groupings.

Last year, I completed an Ottawa Public Health COVID-19 Screening Tool each morning to confirm my child was feeling well.  What is the protocol this year?

We will continue to ask families to access this screening tool EACH and EVERY day: Ottawa Public Health COVID-19 Screening Tool for School or Child Care.  Please be in touch with the school office if the screening tool is indicating that your child should remain at home.

Is there anything special I should be purchasing to best prepare my child for school?

It will be helpful for parents to invest in quality outerwear for each season of the school year, as PE classes will prioritize outdoor activities, and recesses will happen rain or shine (for the most part).  Time outdoors will continue to be prioritized for our students and their wellness.

Also, please try to send your child to school with enough water for them to drink throughout the day (i.e. two bottles of water if needed).  We do have bottle filling water fountains in each designated hallway, however, for health reasons it is best to minimize use as it involves having children touching their bottle tops and then a community fountain.

What kinds of enhanced clearing protocols will be in place throughout the school year?

Working with the Campus, we will have enhanced cleaning both in terms of frequency as well as products.  The Campus will be using a fog sanitizer machine that’s called the Fogger. It can sanitize a classroom in minutes, as well as hallways.  It will be in use during each school day to sanitize outdoor play structures and each evening in every classroom and learning space.  If a child or teacher is sent home due to illness, it will be brought in immediately to that room for a cleaning.  The product is an organic chemical that is safe for humans, animals, plants, etc.

In addition…

  • In accordance with recommendations from Public Health Ontario and Ottawa Public Health, high touch areas will be cleaned and disinfected at least twice daily. This includes door handles, push bars, railings, washroom surfaces, elevator buttons, kitchen surfaces, and light switches.
  • All other spaces will be cleaned and disinfected once per day, including hard floors.
  • In accordance with recommendations from Public Health Ontario and Ottawa Public Health, outdoor play structures will be disinfected during school hours, after each cohort has used the structure.  Protocols for cleaning outdoor play structures during winter months will be determined at a later time, as further research is required as to the safety of doing so in sub-freezing temperatures.
  • Sanitizing machines and stations have been set up in various locations on campus, and will be cleaned and filled as required. All hand sanitizer is alcohol-based.
  • Touchless paper towel dispensers have been installed in many washrooms.
  • All air filtration systems will be cleaned quarterly, and filters will be replaced regularly.

Can my child receive service from outside specialists?

We will continue to limit building access to all visitors due to COVID, as well as a lack of extra space due to our commitment to cohorting.  We will be allowing students who require tutoring with a reading specialist who sees multiple OJCS students in Grades 1-3 to resume service.  However, other specialists and professionals will need to see students outside of the school.  We will not be able, during this phase of reopening, to provide on-site, in-person access to Speech and Language Pathologists, Occupational Therapists, mental health professionals, etc.  We will try on a case-by-case basis to provide a supervised space for tele-therapy or virtual sessions for students in Grades 4-8.

What do I do if my child is having a particularly difficult time emotionally as the result of COVID?

We are here to partner with you in all ways.  Please let us know if there is anything we should be aware of so we can be as supportive as possible.  The grade-level teams will all be paying close attention to our students and their needs.  We also have a School Counsellor, Jennifer Munroe, available to help with student mental health.  We can arrange for a referral if that would be a helpful layer.

Will students be allowed to use lockers / cubbies this year?

Yes, students will be able to have lockers and cubbies this school year.  We will ensure the lockers are cleaned frequently.

What happens if I need to drop-off or pick-up my child from the school at some point throughout the school day?

The office staff will support with drop-off and pick-up from the front entrance, as parents, guests and visitors will not be able to access the building during this phase of reopening.  Additionally, parents coming to pick up sick children or to take children to off-site appointments will be asked to wait outdoors.  Our Office will be prepared to facilitate all these comings and goings via intercom.  For more information about access to the building, please refer to the OJCS Handbook (when it is released).

How will IEP meetings be conducted in the fall?

Our Director of Special Education, Sharon Reichstein, will be in touch with all families of students with IEPs and facilitating IEP meetings via video conference.

Will families need to provide their children with masks and sanitizer?

Yes, please!  We do ask families to equip their children with hand sanitizer to be kept in their desk, and to come with their own masks so that it is the brands they are most comfortable with.  Every classroom is equipped with hand sanitizer and extra masks as well.

Will there be a Before Care and After Care program this year?

Yes, we will be running our usual Before Care program from the school gym from 7:30 AM – 8:30 AM each day.  We will also be offering a Drop-In After Care program, as the JCC has limited space in their full-year program.  More details to come.

Who do I get in touch with if my family develops COVID or has an exposure to COVID?

Please notify both Ottawa Public Health and OJCS immediately should you discover that you have come into contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.  For more information about our COVID health protocols, please refer to the OJCS Handbook.

Is there additional information regarding ventilation in the school?

All HVAC units have been cleaned, serviced and are all working within specifications.  Campus has increased air flow on HVAC units and new MERV 13 filters are on order and will be installed on all HVAC units.  We will continue to prioritize having windows and classroom doors open to increase air circulation.

Will there be COVID-wise fire drills this school year?

Yes, we have developed a fire safety curriculum that balances fire safety requirements with public health guidance to minimize the risk of COVID transmission.  Each class will participate in age-appropriate programming with their teachers and then practice going outside via their designated exit and lining up outside.

Will there be a Photo Day this year?

Yes, on Tuesday, October 19th. We are moving forward with individual student photos and have liaised closely with LifeTouch to ensure COVID protocols will be in place (i.e. using our vast gym space, one class at a time, nothing to hold or touch in photos, etc…).

As always, if you have any questions or concerns with any of the above, please don’t hesitate to reach out.  The revised OJCS Handbook should go live (and be sent out) soon, as will a final staffing update to close the loose ends from the spring.

Enjoy these final weeks of summer!

The Transparency Files: The 2021-2022 Faculty

Happy Monday!

We are heading into our final week with students and teachers, and somehow, despite it all, we are actually on track to successfully wrapping up this year.  We are also beginning to prepare for, what we have every reason to believe, will be a triumphant return to (perhaps a somewhat new) normal for the 2021-2022 school year.  Here are a few quick thoughts before sharing what you came here to read…

…we are looking forward to seeing actual human beings on campus this week for “Popsicles, Pals & Pickups”!  We know that the timing of when we received the rules from the province, to when we were able to make sense of them for our spaces and times, to when we were able to share them with parents, inevitably put pressure on already stressed working families.  This is regrettable and we are sorry for any extra drama this may have caused.  On the flipside, we can also tell you how incredibly excited we are to see many of our students in person!  If you are an OJCS parent and have any questions or concerns, please do be in touch with your child(ren)’s teacher(s).

…as hinted at above, we have no new information, other than what we shared in last week’s blog post.  What I can promise new and returning parents is that we will be transparently and proactively sharing details about next year’s plans for a safe, in-person return to school as they become clear.  I can also promise you that the information will be shared directly with families by email.  I may also share here, in my blog, but I do recognize that not every parent reads my blog religiously.

…for new and returning JK and SK families, I do want you to know that we are preparing for all circumstances – despite my sunny optimism from three paragraphs above.  My biggest regret from this year is that we (I) were not smart enough to start exploring daycare options so that our SK, dual-working, essential worker families had a landing spot for their children during the extended at-home learning pivots.  Even though the odds are truly small that we will be in this position again, please know that we have already begun exploring institutional partnerships and options so that in that unlikely event, we will have an address and a solution.  Our first priority will be JK and then SK and I look forward to reporting back to those families when I know more.  Your choice of school should not be determined by who gets to stay open and who has to close in a worldwide pandemic.  We are looking forward to the launch of JK done #TheOJCSWay and a smoother year for our youngest students.

…we are thrilled to have TWO Grade 6s next year (that will help you understand what you see below)!

…final caveats: the assignments below are tentative (they always are!) and there are at least two ways they could change: 1) JK and SK are the most likely to continue growing over the summer and, thus, additional sections could open (SK is the more likely).  If that happens, there will be a bit of a domino effect on staff assignments.  2) If the province’s rules for a safe reopening are different from what all schools are planning for, we may have to make a few adjustments as well.

OK, I think I have given a lengthy enough preamble.  Let’s get excited about this gifted and loving group of teachers and administrators, who will partner with our parents in the sacred work of educating our children.  I know I am!

The 2021-2022 OJCS Faculty & Staff

Lower School General Studies Faculty

  • Junior Kindergarten: Susan Wollock (plus French) & Mushki Kurtz (EA)
  • Kindergarten: Andréa Black, Sophie Pellerin (French) & Taylor Smith (EA)
  • Grade One: Ann-Lynn Rapoport & Aaron Polowin (French) [TWO Classes]
  • Grade Two: Lianna Krantzberg & Sophie Pellerin (French) [TWO Classes]
  • Grade Three: Julie Bennett & Aaron Polowin (French) [TWO Classes]
  • Grade Four: Faye Mellenthin, Sophie Pellerin (Core) & Stéphane Cinanni (Extended) [TWO Classes]
  • Grade Five: Grade Five Teacher, Stéphane Cinanni (Core) & Dr. Sylvie Raymond (Extended)

Lower School Jewish Studies Faculty

  • Kitah JK: Susan Wollock
  • Kitah Gan: Shira Waldman
  • Kitah Alef: Ada Aizenberg [TWO Classes]
  • Kitah Bet: Bethany Goldstein [TWO Classes]
  • Kitah Gimmel: Sigal Baray [TWO Classes]
  • Kitah Dalet: Jewish Studies Teacher [TWO Classes]
  • Kitah Hay: Marina Riklin

Middle School Faculty

  • Science: Josh Ray
  • Mathematics: Chelsea Cleveland
  • Grade Six Language Arts: Mike Washerstein
  • Grades Seven & Eight Language Arts: Melissa Thompson
  • Social Studies: Deanna Bertrend
  • Extended French: Wanda Canaan
  • Core French: Dr. Sylvie Raymond
  • Hebrew: Ruthie Lebovich (Hebrew Alef for 7 & 8), Hebrew Teacher (Hebrew Alef for 6), and Marina Riklin (Hebrew Bet)
  • Jewish Studies: Mike Washerstein
  • Rabbinics: Lookstein Virtual Jewish Academy (supervised by Brian Kom)

Specialists

  • Art: Shira Waldman
  • Dramatic Arts: Andréa Black
  • PE: Josh Ray (Middle School) & PE Teacher (Lower School)
  • Library: Brigitte Ruel

Department of Special Education

  • Keren Gordon, Vice Principal
  • Sharon Reichstein, Director of Special Needs
  • Ashley Beswick, Resource Teacher & Behavior Support Coordinator
  • Brian Kom, Resource Teacher
  • Chelsea Cleveland, Math Resource

Education Leadership Team

  • Melissa Thompson, Teaching & Learning Coordinator
  • Deanna Bertrend, Student Life Coordinator

Administration

  • Josh Max – Director of Technology
  • Ellie Kamil – Executive Assistant to the Head of School
  • Staci Zemlak-Kenter – Director of Development
  • Emily Jiang – Chief Accountant
  • Jennifer Greenberg – Director of Recruitment
  • Keren Gordon – Vice-Principal
  • Dr. Jon Mitzmacher – Head of School

You will see some new names above!

We are excited to welcome Ashley Beswick (B.A., B,Ed., M.Ed), as our new Primary/Junior Resource Teacher. Ms. Beswick comes to OJCS with many years of invaluable experience supporting and teaching students with Special Needs at Mindware Academy, as well as through her own business. She is eager to meet our students, and brings much experience with strategic learning support, as well as behavioural and social skills coaching. Mrs. Signer is spending much time with Ms. Beswick to ensure a smooth transition.

We are also thrilled to introduce Madame Wanda Canaan (B. Sc., B.Ed., M.Ed.) who will be joining our French Faculty in the Middle School. Madame Canaan comes to us with almost two decades of teaching experience from all over the world. She is extraordinarily passionate about teaching Francais and looks forward to meeting you all in September.

Susan Wollock (B.A.A., ECE) is a familiar face here at OJCS, as both a parent and having taught with us in the past. She has two decades of ECE experience and will be our trilingual Junior Kindergarten teacher. Morah Shoshana is such a joyful and creative force who worked closely with our school community through the virtual Little Learners program this year.

This fall we will be moving away from music to introducing a new specialist activity across Kindergarten – Grade 5, and as a Middle Elective. We are thrilled to share that a Dramatic Arts program with Andréa Black will be launched and lead to opportunities for students to experience cooperative imagination-based dramatic play, music and movement, media studies that leaps off the page, and more…Morah Andréa has starred in more Theatre Shows than we can count, and we can’t wait for her to inspire our student!

We are already at final interviews for the remaining openings and between our extraordinary returning teachers and the quality of our new teachers, we know that the future is bright at OJCS.

Graduation is this evening at 7:00 PM and we are looking forward to celebrating our amazing Grade 8s who have earned the right to be celebrated considering all that they have experienced these last two years.  Graduation is a rite of passage for the school as much as the students, and we welcome our entire OJCS Community to watch the livestream and kvell along with us!

The Transparency Files: Reasonable Assumptions & Known Unknowns

With report cards largely written, we are squarely in that time of year where we are leaning into joy and celebrating community.  This year more than ever, where people’s bandwidth for online learning is less and less by the day, please know that we don’t just understand (or have plenty of empathy!), but that we are doing whatever we can to provide your children with however many doses of positivity as we can however often we see them.  Today is a great example.  Despite its virtual nature, our Harry Potter-themed “Maccabiah 2021” was a wonderful day of ruach that hopefully makes another day of at-home learning a little more bearable with summer achingly within reach.

As we prepare for the final seven-and-a-half days of school, in addition to online joy we hope to spark, please be on the lookout for your child(ren)’s cohort(s)’s announcement about “Popsicles, Pals & Pickups”!  This is our response to the province’s allowance for a final in-person gathering for all grades.  We have received our guidelines and we will be creating a schedule for each cohort – most likely during the final week – to come back to school, to spend time together in person to properly wrap up the year, to return library books and other school materials, and to pick up yearbooks and personal belongings.  More details will come from your teacher(s), stay tuned!

Here, in my little slice of the blogosphere, I, too, am winding down for summer.  Today, I would like to share with you some preliminary thoughts about how we are preparing for next year.  That leaves with me two additional posts before I go on a bit of a hiatus for summer.  I will share out my words to this year’s graduating class and I have one final “Transparency Files” post in which we will announce the 2021-2022 OJCS Faculty & Staff.

We have received very little questioning about next year, which could be for all kinds of reasons.  No need to speculate here.  But I thought it would be helpful for parents to be aware of what reasonable assumptions we are using to plan for next year and what are our “known unknowns”.  If either leave with you with questions or concerns, as always, please do be in touch.

Reasonable Assumptions

  • With the reasonable expectation that every adult who works in the building will be fully vaccinated by the start of the school year, we are not planning for either a hybrid or hyflex learning program next year.  We expect to fully return to in-person learning.
  • It may be true in some grades for some subjects, however, that a child who is home sick next year could participate virtually or work asynchronously on planned lessons.  However, our teachers will not be expected to produce fully hyflexed schedules and assignments at all times.
  • We are planning for the return of regular PE and Tefillah as they would no longer constitute “high risk” activities.
  • We assume enhanced cleaning protocols will carry over in some fashion.

Known Unknowns

  • We have no current guidance as to whether or not the province and/or public health will have any masking guidelines (in any grades) or social distancing requirements.
  • We cannot yet say whether or not multigrade experiences, whether they be as simple as recess or as complicated as the “Sukkah Hop” –  with everything in between (like assemblies) – are returning next year.  Ditto for the Middle School Retreat, the Grade 8 Trip, and field trips.  We are planning for them all to return, but we don’t know yet for sure.
  • We don’t know if we will need to continue to utilize three different entrances and maintain separate access to washrooms and water fountains.

These are just initial thoughts as we wait for the province to provide us with the official guidelines for safe reopening.  As was true last year, we will – of course – send a detailed email to all our parents when we have a clearer picture.  But for now, as we do our best to put at-home learning to bed for the 2020-2021 school year, we can also look forward to a return to in-person learning for the 2021-2022 school year…and that feels great!

While we wait to announce the full faculty for next year, we do – here – want to share out that our own Linda Signer will be retiring after many years of quality teaching at OJCS when this school year closes.  It has become a recent tradition to publicly celebrate retiring teachers with a “Retirement Tea” where we bring back former teachers and students, as well as inviting current staff, families and students to share in the moment.  We don’t believe this lends itself properly to a virtual context, so we will be celebrating Ms. Signer’s retirement at the end of next school year when we can do it properly.  However, those of you who know her and want to wish her well as she prepares to enjoy the next phase of her life are more than welcome to do so over these next weeks.

The Transparency Files: Annual Parent Survey

Looking out my daughter’s bedroom window – as this is where I now work from, when I work from home – at the empty sunny streets, is both a reminder of what is presently true and a foretaste of what we all hope will shortly become true, the first stirrings back towards normalcy.  As atypical as this year has been, we do find comfort in familiar habits and experiences.  And so if it is mid-May, it must be time to share the results of this year’s Annual Parent Survey.  If you would like to see a full comparison with last year, you can reread those results or have them open so you can toggle back and forth.  In this post, I will try to capture the highlights and identify what trends seem worth paying attention to.

The first thing to name, which does not come as a tremendous surprise considering the times we are living through, is that we continue to have a less-than representation.  The only good news here is that we have at least stabilized a bit.  We have gone from 81 students to 84 students to 54 students to 58 students.  With increased enrollment, it essentially holds steady from last year, with the survey representing no more than a third of our student population.  As the survey is per student, not per family, it runs the risk of being even less representative than that.  (In the service of anonymity, we have no way of knowing how many families the survey actually represents.)  We had set a goal of 50% and we have a long way to go.  If you have feedback on what might incentivize greater participation, please drop it in the comments or email it to us directly.

Of course, this is definitely not an “all things being equal” circumstance.  This is definitely not a year for drawing any meaningful conclusions about participation rates.  Whereas it is common wisdom that folks with concerns are usually more likely to fill out these surveys, there is no common wisdom when it comes to pandemic times.  So for what we hope is just one more year, instead of worrying about the motivations for why families did or didn’t fill out surveys, let’s celebrate the parents who did participate and try to make meaning of what they are telling us.

Interestingly, we have more spread than normal.  It is more typical to have a big cluster in the youngest grades with diminishing returns as you get older.  This year, we have a healthy distribution across most of our grades.

Without knowing how representative this third of students are, this data for sure lines up with what is true – that we have had the fastest and most successful re-registration in recent history!  The percentage who replied “yes” is up and the “nos” are always complicated to unpack because we have no way of knowing who of the “no’s” represent graduations or relocations, as opposed to choosing to attrit prior to Grade 8).  What continues to be true is that the overwhelming majority of families – regardless of their feedback – stay with us year after year.  This continues to say a lot about them and a lot about us.

Let’s look at the BIG PICTURE:

The first chart gives you the weighted average satisfaction score (out of 10); the second chart gives you the breakdown by category.  I will remind you that for this and all categories, I look at the range between 7-9 as the healthy band, obviously wanting scores to be closer to 9 than to 7, and looking for scores to go up each year.  In terms of “overall satisfaction”, we have now gone from 7.13 to 7.20 to 8.17 to 7.91.  Although it is just a tick down from last year, the difference is statistically insignificant.  Interestingly, this is the first time that no families graded the school a 1, 2 or 3.  Of course, we always want to see numbers go up, and not down, but based on how we survey it is hard to get much higher.

This continues to be a good news story, but let’s dig deeper…

[Please note that if it is little blurry, it is how I have to cut-and-paste-and-scan the data.  Hopefully, you can zoom in a bit more if you need.]

  • The topline number – probably the most important – like our overall satisfaction is barely down from 8.0 to 7.91 and a very positive outcome.
  • I am very pleased to see that every single category is essentially unchanged from last year’s all-time highs and that for the first time each score is in the healthy range!
  • I am thrilled to see that relationships with faculty comes in with the highest score (8.18) in this block, especially when you factor in all the challenges this year of pandemic have created.  Kudos to our teachers!
  • Our lowest score (again) is again in “Homework” but it continues to climb from 6.56 to 6.91 to 7.0, putting it inside the healthy band for the first time.  Progress has been slow, but we are seeing steady improvement in the full implementation of our new Homework Philosophy.

  • We have seen steady growth on the topline number, which again is so critical to our school from 6.61 to 6.97 to – finally! – jumping up to 7.58!  I wonder if having a higher percentage of families with older children and/or a percentage of families joining OJCS from other schools moves the needle?  It could verify that parents’ perceptions of their child(ren) as being well prepared for high school grows higher as they get closer (which would be good) to graduation.
  • The metrics for Spec Ed are a bit of mixed bag with the communication score dipping down a bit, but the satisfaction score for those who have IEPs jumping up meaningfully.  The numbers remain strong and of all the things to suffer during the pandemic, it is not surprising to see it impact our most vulnerable students.  Kudos to Sharon Reichstein, our Director of Special Needs Education, and her team for all their work this year!

  • Thrilled to see that our topline number continues to remain over 8!
  • Very happy to see that every metric in General Studies is well into the healthy band and each one is essentially unchanged.
    • Math: 7.09 to 7.60 to 7.67.
    • Science: 7.09 to 7.72 to 7.61.
    • Social Studies: 7.41 to 7.96 to 7.95.
    • Reading: 6.93 to 8.0 to 7.85.
    • Writing: 6.51 to 7.07 t0 7.41.
  • The biggest movement, which I am very pleased to see, is in “Writing” where we have, not coincidentally, a number of teachers spending what bandwidth for professional growth they have available on increasing rigor in our writing program.  This is a clear example over time where parent voice, aligned with teacher and student voice, leads to meaningful action.  (Fill out those surveys y’all!  We really do pay attention.)

  • I am so pleased to report that (if you allow for just a hint of rounding) not only are all our metrics up, but French at OJCS has finally fully entered the healthy band!  That’s fantastic news!  Our OVERALL metric went from 5.66 to 6.54 to 6.85.  French reading grew from 5.58 to 6.36 to 7.07.  French writing went 5.35 to 6.07 to 6.95.  To what can we attribute this growth?  Two things leap out: 1) The addition of three new, high-quality French Teachers and, 2) The impact of our final year of consultancy with TACLEF.  When you factor in how hard it has been to integrate the work of the consultancy to hyflex and distance learning, it makes the achievement all the more significant.  There is still room to grow, of course, but four years in, perhaps we can finally say that the narrative around French outcomes at OJCS has finally shifted.  Bon travail to the French Department!
  • Sticking with the theme of this section, it is not surprising with all the protocols that were in place that we’d see dips in both Art and PE.  We’ve made it hard for those teachers to deliver their usual excellence and in that context, their scores can be interpreted to be quite positive.  We know that even with a rigorous, trilingual curriculum, that we need to continue to offer the kinds of high-quality PE/Music/Art experiences that make a well-rounded education.  Look for these numbers to go back up next year.

  • We are again thrilled to see all our Jewish Studies metrics continue to hold strong for another year.  We are especially pleased to see the OVERALL metric essentially hold steady from 7.29 to 8.08 to 7.91.  Considering, that we went forward without filling the “Dean of Judaics” position and all the additional COVID-related challenges, this is especially encouraging.  Kol ha’kavod to the Jewish Studies Department!
  • We have tried really hard not to let COVID be the excuse throughout the course of the year, but when it comes to the rest of the categories in this chart, it is hard not to.  These scores are way lower than normal, but unless they stay there again next year, I am inclined to view them a COVID blip.
  • Similarly with “Hot Lunch,” between COVID and the change in status for Creative Kosher, one expects us to be better prepared next year and I’ll look for this score to return to normalcy.

From this year’s experimental section, we yield these two data points (and two sets of meaningful commentary).  As we cannot predict the future, even with wholehearted hope of a return to year-round, in-person learning next year, our ability to navigate situations like this with minimal disruption and maximal academic progress – not to mention the continuance of meaningful Jewish experiences – will likely continue to be powerful value-adds for OJCS in the years ahead.

  • These are wonderful scores, all a bit higher than last year and all well into the healthy band!  We know that we have Ellie to thank for a lot of those high scores!
  • After having to take a COVID pause, I will be interested to see what the impact of “Student-Led Conferences” will be on the “parent-teacher conferences” metric once finally launched.

  • I have already shared my thoughts on my own job performance in my prior “Transparency Files” post.  I will simply state here my pleasure in seeing all these numbers climb from the prior year.
  • It is especially heartwarming to see the highest score we have ever registered, 8.89 (!), for providing a safe environment.  That, more than anything, is the story of the year.
  • The one metric that I am very pleased to see continue to climb is the last one, which essentially serves as a proxy for school-wide behavior management.  Two years we scored a 6.69 and I stated that, “we are working on launching a new, school-wide behavior management system next year based on the “7 Habits” and anchored in our “North Stars”.  I will be surprised if this score doesn’t go up next year.”  Well, last year it came in at 7.65 and this year it climbed up to 8.19.

Last data point:

Remember this question was scaled 1-5.   Our score remains consistent from 4.44 to 4.34.  I said last year, that I truthfully don’t know how much more there reasonably is to grow this, but we’ll keep doing our best to find out!

So there you have it for 2020-2021!

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 and a couple of experimental sections.  Your written responses added an additional layer of depth; one which is difficult to summarize for a post like this.  Please know that all comments will be shared with those they concern.  (This includes a full set of unedited and unredacted results which goes to the Head Support and Evaluation Committee of our Board of Trustees.)  As you can see, we really do use this data to make enhancements and improvements each year.

We very much wish to continue into next year, this year’s trend in increasing positive outcomes and satisfaction.  To mix school metaphors, each year simply becomes the higher “floor” we stand upon to reach towards our North Stars.  With no ceiling, we aim to reach a little closer each time.