How do we support girls in the transition from middle school to high school? Joni Fishman, Middle School dean of students at The Rashi School in Dedham, Massachusetts, speaks with researcher Cheryl Weiner about Rosh Chodesh groups, SEL, and ways that girls think of themselves and their overlapping identities as they enter the cusp of adulthood.

An interview with Rashi Middle School science teacher Deb Berlin on what's most challenging about her role, what she loves about Middle School students, and how she works to build empathy in her students.

At the Rashi School in Dedham, a few dozen kindergartners celebrated the Jewish holiday of Passover.“ Passover is the retelling of the Jewish people's exodus from enslavement in Egypt,” said lead kindergarten teacher Rachel Liptz. It's their first time as a kindergarten community. Last year was much different. “Last year at this time we were at home with our families being thrust into teaching online virtually which was challenging,” Liptz said. The children on Thursday hosted a COVID-19-friendly Seder on the grounds outside of their school.

At Rashi, our NewBridge neighbors are people who have distinctive needs as they age, and our students learn to understand these needs and connect with seniors in ways that enhance their quality of life. And it has always been about something deeper. Early in their Rashi careers, our students see the residents and all aging elders as assets to our community, people with knowledge, skills, capacity, and capability to enrich their learning and their ability to problem solve.

If you had walked down the halls of The Rashi School this past week, you would have seen giant bins full of Passover temptations: cereal, oatmeal, crackers. Why? One of the customs associated with Passover is to search for, collect, and either destroy or donate chametz, foods that are not eaten during Passover which typically include leavened bread or any food that contains wheat, rye, barley, oats or spelt, to individuals in need.

Combining hands-on learning, individual exploration, and a celebration of Black History Month, Grade 7 students did a deep exploration on a figure from the Harlem Renaissance, including Langston Hughes, W.E DeBois, and Josephine Baker.

The following is a short interview with Sharon Miller, a longtime Rashi kindergarten teacher. Sharon sat down with Rashi’s communication manager to discuss what this year’s been like, why she loves kindergarten, and why we shouldn’t just think of kindergarteners as cute.

Purim, celebrated this past Thursday night and Friday at The Rashi School, was a day of joy and celebration, and because it’s Rashi, had excellent learning and community building mixed in. Read on for how we celebrated.

Our Social Justice team introduced our Grade 2 students to Amanda Gorman this past week as a ‘Tzedakah Hero,’ a person in their own way working to piece back together broken parts of the world. Each week the Social Justice Team highlights an “ordinary” individual and the “extra-ordinary” work that they are doing to respond to some specific problem/challenge in our world. Students learn that a Tzedakah Hero is someone who notices a problem or challenge and then steps up and says “I think I can do something to help make it better.”

Happy laughs, sprinting feet, cold breezes. For Jen Shaw, Fitness and Health teacher, this year looks a little different. Her office has shifted from inside and the gym to the entire Rashi campus, outside in the fields, basketball court, trails, and play equipment. She shares, “This year I’ve been surprised by how much of the Rashi campus I haven’t used before for class. I’m looking forward to continuing using it for years to come.”

Patterns are all around us! Our Kindergarteners have been working on developing patterning skills in the world around them, in clothes, numbers, colors, sounds, shapes and more. Identifying, creating, continuing, and discussing patterns help Rashi Kindergarteners build their foundation to become strong mathematicians.

A letter to the community for the first ever Rashi Reads, as the whole school reads Let's Talk About Race by Julius Lester.

Every day, small groups of Grade 6, 7, and 8 students meet with their advisory. It’s a non-academic time set aside to check-in, develop relationships, address any necessary information, ask deep questions, and have fun together.

The Rashi School’s Zach Albert shares how he’s talking to kids as they live through history.

This has been a year like no other. At Rashi we are grateful for the light our community has brought us over the almost 15 weeks we have been in our school building this year.

The following press release was sent after the Rashi School's 2020 Annual Dinner.