Jcdsri

We are so excited that you are exploring JCDSRI for your child(ren) and family. We will launch our 2025 – 2026 admissions season in early October. Please complete this form to make sure that you are getting all of our communication related to admissions and community events.

We have recently developed the following JCDSRI Statement of Inclusivity in Admissions with the guidance and support of our Tzedek (Justice) Coordinator. We are proud to share this document with you!

September 15, 2024

Standing outside each morning to greet JCDSRI students, parents and faculty (and even neighbors walking their dogs), I hope that my waves, high fives, and smiles communicate how genuinely happy I am to see each member of our community. I am grateful to have the opportunity every day, rain or shine, to practice, and to model, hachnasat orchim.

This value of hachnasat orchim – welcoming the guest – animates much of our school culture. It is evident in the way every classroom’s student “greeter” warmly welcomes visitors, in the hugs older students give to their younger “buddies,” and in the stories and lessons our teachers construct with their students.

Beginning in Nitzanim and Ilanot, our students are introduced to the concept of hachnasat orchim when they hear the story of Avraham and Sarah who demonstrated great compassion and generosity when they invited three guests (who turned out to be angels) into their tent. This example inspires us at JCDSRI, as it did Rashi (the great commentator), who explained that Avraham’s commitment to hachnasat orchim was so great that he refused to leave the entrance of his tent so that he would not miss the opportunity to greet every traveler walking past!

What is it about this Torah story that we continue to find so compelling? Perhaps because it is tied to the exhortation that appears in the Torah: “The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:33-34) Our unsettling experiences as outsiders, the rabbis suggest, compel us to follow the model of Avraham and Sarah. We should open the entrances to our “tents” and seek out the “strangers” in our midst.

This value of hospitality, as well as our awareness that we once were strangers in a strange land, is woven into the fabric of our Jewish identities. It reminds us at JCDSRI that we are to construct an authentically welcoming community, one that not only embraces the familiar (the “insider”), but also warmly invites those not yet known, into our embrace. 

I invite you to take a pause, however brief, as you drop off your child(ren) as I would love to greet you! And I encourage you to greet those who are new and returning in our community. 

May we be blessed to be seen and welcomed and to see and welcome others.

September 8, 2024

My name is Jill Davis and I am the principal here at JCDSRI. I have the privilege of working closely with our students, faculty and administrators. One of my roles at JCDSRI is to provide engaging and appropriate Professional Development for our teachers and support staff. This work of developing and facilitating our own Professional Development for JCDSRI faculty is a passion of mine and one of the most exciting parts of my job.

Professional Development at JCDSRI provides an opportunity for teachers to grow their knowledge and sharpen their skills, which can lead to better student outcomes. It’s a way for our teachers to collaborate with their colleagues, and one avenue through which administrators can support our teachers. This summer teachers and administrators alike came together for three full days of Professional Development.  Universal Design for Learning has been a major focus for us and continued to be during our summer learning. As our incredible partners, we want to take a moment to introduce these concepts to you as you will hear and read about components of UDL throughout the year. 

JCDSRI is a Universal Design for Learning school. The ultimate goal of UDL is for all learners to become “expert learners.” Expert learners are purposeful and motivated, resourceful and knowledgeable, and strategic and goal-directed about learning.

UDL is a powerful approach because from the very start of a lesson, it helps our teachers anticipate and plan for all of our learners. It can help us make sure that the greatest range of students can access and engage in learning —leaving no student behind.

Our JCDSRI educational community has learned that UDL may change how we think about what prevents students from learning. Instead of thinking that something needs to change about the students, UDL looks at the learning environment. The learning environment can include barriers to learning, like the design of the curricular goals, assessments, methods, and materials. In this way, the learning environment itself can be “abled” or “dis-abled.”UDL gives us a framework to follow so we can reduce the barriers to learning. 

During our time together, we learned more about the 3 principles of UDL; engagement, representation, action and expression. UDL describes human variability based on parts of the brain that manage the “why” (affective network), the “what” (recognition network), and the “how (strategic network) of learning. However, this was not the first time teachers heard about UDL.  This has been an ongoing journey since last year. In fact, our faculty and staff read “Unlearning” by Alison Posey and Katie Novak in preparation for our summer Professional Development and were asked to come in with responses from the literature that were then discussed and unpacked further.

I am so proud of all our JCDSRI educators. During our time together they collaborated on several UDL tasks, worked in teams, role-played various “real” UDL classroom scenarios, and presented on many UDL topics and case studies – all of which reflected our values, aligned with our mission and educational philosophy. 

September 1, 2024

My name is Bethany Weinstein and I would like to formally and enthusiastically introduce myself as JCDSRI’s social worker! I began in this role last year, when I was lovingly welcomed by students, families, teachers, and the entire school community. Due to my mid-year arrival, I realize I may have missed the opportunity to introduce myself to everyone, and I am excited to do so now as we begin this upcoming school year.

I have been practicing as a social worker since 2011.  Prior to my time here at JCDSRI, I worked as a social worker in the Providence Public Schools and, before that, as a social worker at Butler Hospital.  It is through these experiences that I have come to humbly appreciate the value of social workers in schools. I have had the privilege of learning from and working with some truly incredible colleagues over the years and JCDSRI has proven to be a place where I will continue to share wisdom, collaborate, learn and grow!

In my role at JCDSRI, I will have the opportunity to work with students in groups and focused, time-limited individual sessions. I will support teachers as they continue to integrate our social/emotional curriculum throughout the year. I will also be available to help support you, our incredible families, as you navigate the joys and challenges of parenting!

Please feel free to reach out to me! I can be found at school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and I can always be reached on my email at bweinstein@jcdsri.com. I will do my best to get back to you within 24 hours. I am wishing you all a wonderful school year!