There they are…these are some actual members of our current Class of 2030.
All the talk and rhetoric about what we could be, what we ought to be – it is all for these children. They are not an educational theory to be debated; they are flesh and blood children to be educated. What we do now matters not in the abstract realm of philosophy, but in the practical realm of whether these girls and boys will be prepared for success in the 21st century in all the ways academic, social and Jewish that can be defined. They – and all of the children in our school – are what it is really about. They are the reminder and the inspiration; the goal and the promise.
January this year brings us a wonderful confluence of events – the publication and mailing of enrollment materials for the 2018-2019 academic year and the Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shevat – a holiday celebrating, among many things, the planting of seeds and the harvesting of fruits. I always marvel when the rhythm of Jewish living intersects with the rhythm of school life – it never fails to create meaningful and new connections.
And so the time has come to see how well we have sown the seeds of confidence and competence; love and caring; rigor and renewal; energy and enthusiasm – have we begun to deliver on the rightfully lofty academic, spiritual, emotional and social expectations our children and parents have for us?
You are likely familiar with the phrase, “leap of faith”. A “leap of faith” is predicated on the notion that one cannot really know (at least in scientific terms) religious truth and so in the end it is a matter of faith. You believe…because you believe.
However, as admissions and enrollment packets find their ways into parents’ hands, all of us involved in the sacred and holy task of educating children look to this time of year and hope that we have nurtured the seeds we have sown with success. We are not looking for parents to make a leap of faith and enroll their children in our schools. We are looking for parents to make a leap of fact and enroll their children in our schools – confident that our school is the right place for their children to receive the education they want and deserve.
The seeds were planted during the summer. They were watered and nurtured during the fall and into the winter. As winter moves 
on (and on and on) and slowly moves towards spring, the faculty, staff, administration, lay leaders, donors, and supporters of the Ottawa Jewish Community School look forward to a rich and satisfying harvest.
We look forward to many, many leaps of fact.
Speaking of facts…
…our work with NoTosh – which we described at length prior to Winter Break launched this week with a first site visit. We debriefed the project with the full faculty and had our first Design Team meeting. We look forward to sharing more as the work develops!
…our Grade 9 Alumni Survey has closed (our Grade 12 has another week of collection to go) and we look forward to sharing the results. We are working on the “French outcomes” deliverable first announced here, but there are other important data points about how well (or not) OJCS prepared students for all aspects of high school that we’d like to share out as well. [All current Grades 2 & 3 Families, any current francophone families or any prospective family who has questions or concerns about French at OJCS should “save the date” for February 8th. Our “French Town Hall” will take place that evening; still tweaking the time. Stay tuned. Or restez à l’écoute.]
…our work with the Rabbinic Advisory Committee is moving forward as well. We are currently working through elements of tefillah that will ensure we deliver on our promises of strengthening the “J” in “OJCS”.