For over fifty years, Ezra Academy has demonstrated how a dual curriculum enhances both halves of the school day.
In a school infused with Jewish culture and a strong sense of purpose, students are more invested in secular academic subjects, while the skills learned in secular subjects, like close reading and critical thinking, transfer to the study of Judaics.
At Ezra, Jewishness and secular studies are interwoven.
In the younger grades, music class may teach Jewish songs (among others), learning to read involves decoding Jewish stories along with secular ones, learning the calendar is given extra meaning because of the Jewish holidays on it, and so forth. In both the lower school and the upper school, certain Judaics subjects are taught in classes of their own: Hebrew is always its own class, and the Judaics track progresses, as students get older, from basic Torah stories to more advanced Talmud and encounters with Jewish philosophy.
What does this mean in practice?
Every year is different, but to take one example: a typical upper-school day for a fifth-grader might include six blocks, with classes in English, math, and social studies, as well as classes in Hebrew and Jewish studies. Jewish learning is also infused throughout the art, music, and gym classes required of every student.
For all students, twice-weekly tefilla, or Jewish prayer, is another chance to practice Hebrew, and a musical Friday-afternoon Kabbalat Shabbat service, before dismissal for the weekend, offers even more exposure to Jewish culture—as well as an opportunity to dance and eat challah.
