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How to Support Your Child When Tragic Things Happen

We hope these resources will help parents to navigate conversations with your children about difficult national and world events. Please know that your child's teachers as well as our school psychologist Sarah Davies, Director of Ethics & Community Liz Paige, and our divisions' directors are also here to support you and welcome you to reach out to them.

If you have recommendations of resources that other parents might find useful, please share your suggestions with Liz Paige.

Our Values

Our School's values guide all that we do in and beyond the classroom, in how we treat one another each day and in creating the future we wish for the world.

Derech Eretz (Respect for All)

We believe that diversity, equity and inclusion matter and to achieve these goals we must truly know and respect each other. By focusing on the whole child through our curriculum and programs, we co-create with students a lifelong path that honors self-expression and respect for all.

Gemilut Hasadim (Doing Good and Kind Deeds)

We are a diverse community, brought together by a commitment to raise and teach ethical, caring, and inquisitive children. By doing good and kind deeds, in and outside the classroom, we strengthen our bonds across our many traditions and differences

Kehilah (Community)

We are a community first -- one that cares for each person and our community as a whole. Students learn how to be concerned and responsible members of our kehilah in their homerooms, kehilah crews, classes, family groups, and Shabbat gatherings.

Limud L'shma

We instill a love of learning by encouraging curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, experimentation, dialogue, independence, and teamwork. By empowering students to ask questions and challenge their own thinking, they discover their interests, opinions, passions, and voice.

Tikkun Olam (Repair the World)

We explore and engage in the complex issues facing our community and the world beyond, always striving to make the world a better place. Through ethics classes, literature, humanities, science, world languages, mathematics, the arts, environmental education, and service learning, students gain knowledge, skills, empathy, and the commitment to repair our world.

Tzedakah (Giving to Others)

We seek justice and equity through our learning and our actions. Our students learn that giving is part of living as an ethical, active global citizen. Our students donate and raise funds to create a more just world through service projects that support anti-hunger programs, refugee resettlement efforts, and international aid and development.

Our Traditions

Many of our School's traditions are Jewish traditions that create both a rhythm and a focus for our school year.

Shabbat

Each week, we celebrate Shabbat, a traditional day of rest and reflection, to appreciate all that we have learned, created and accomplished as well as focus on our values together as a community.

This year Shabbat will be in-person and live-streamed so that all members of our community may participate. The Shabbat program always includes the three traditional Hebrew blessings of blessing the Shabbat candles, blessing juice and blessing the challah (braided bread made for Shabbat). In these blessings, we give thanks for creation of the world and all its beauty, the sweetness of the fruit of the vine and all sweet things in our life, and for the bread and those who nourish us individually and as a community. Our Shabbat program also includes stories, songs, videos and speakers that teach us about the universal lessons to be gleaned from Jewish, American and other traditions' holidays as well as current events.

Spring Holidays

Beginning with Tu B'Shevat in February, celebrating the birthday of the trees and our responsibility to be stewards of the environment, the Spring is a busy season filled with joyful holidays. In March, the holiday of Purim, offers us both the opportunity to be silly and dress up as an upstander and watch the Middle School's Purim spiel, as well as time to be upstanders by donating food to support the work of Jewish Family Service's food pantry. In April, we express our gratitude for our freedom with the traditional foods of the Seder and recommit ourselves to being allies, upstanders and advocates to end oppression in our time.

For More Information

For more information about how we live our values and traditions, please contact Liz Paige, Director of Ethics and Community, at lpaige@mcgillisschool.org.