I'm a HUGE fan of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, which goes from kindergarten through grade 12 on two campuses in Rockville, MD. It accepts Jews of all varieties, from the most secular to the most religious, but its general outlook is Conservative.
My daughter, whom I adopted from China when she was 18.5 mo. old and I was single and "only" 51, has been going there since kindergarten. She is ten now and in fifth grade.
The school is HUGE -- for example, there were eight kindergarten classes and there are six fifth grades -- so I was worried that my daughter would get lost in the shuffle. But from day one, she walked in like she owned the place; it just felt right for her. And all the staff make a huge effort to get to know the children. If Becca walks in the front door, someone will greet her by name and ask how her dog is, or something.
The school day is divided into two main components. About half the day is taught in English, by typical American teachers. And about half the day is taught in Hebrew, by Israelis.
For the youngest children, one classroom has an English teacher, an English teacher's aide, a Hebrew teacher, and a Hebrew teacher's aide. There is no changing classes except for things like computer lab, science, art, music, and P.E.
In the older grades, the children begin to change classes more. As an example, my daughter has one teacher for English and social studies, another for enrichment math, another for Hebrew, and then others for all the specials, including English and Hebrew computer labs. Her schedule is unique to her -- very much as it will be in high school.
In the youngest grades, the children learn all their basic secular subjects in English, and their Hebrew class is reserved for modern Hebrew, an introduction to Biblical Hebrew, studies of the Jewish holidays, studies about the prayers, and so on.
As the kids get older, they begin to get some secular material in their Hebrew classes. In third grade, for example, Becca learned to do Excel graphs in Hebrew computer lab, with Hebrew software! This year, in conjunction with her Hebrew class studies of Sh'mot (Exodus), she is doing a research project on Egyptian writing, partly in English and partly in Hebrew.
English subjects are generally taught in heterogeneous groups, although there are classes for enrichment math and for kids who need a lot of help with math. In Hebrew, however, homogeneous grouping begins in third grade.
This is necessary, as the children are of very varied backgrounds. There are the Israeli diplomats' kids from the Embassy, who speak Hebrew at home. There are the kids with one Israeli parent, who know some Hebrew. There are the typical American kids who are all over the map with what they know of Hebrew language. And there are kids from places like the former Soviet Union, who know nothing of Hebrew at all. There is also an "Ulpan" to bring transfer students up to speed with Hebrew.
I had some concern that the focus on Hebrew would cause some decrease in the quality of the English teaching. However, I should not have worried. In general, the curriculum is that of Montgomery County, Maryland, one of the best school systems in the country. However, having observed kids who go to our neighborhood school in Gaithersburg, when they do homework with my daughter, I can easily see that Becca's classes are further ahead and doing more challenging work.
I also had some concern about whether there was enough diversity, given that Becca is non-White. Well, again, I shouldn't have worried. As an example, in her second grade class, there were 18 students, four of whom (including Becca) were non-White.
She and one other girl were Chinese daughters of older Jewish single Moms. One girl was, along with her family, a refugee from Eritrea, a country adjacent to Ethiopia, which had a Black Jewish community, although most of the Jews are now in Israel or the U.S. because of the civil war there. The fourth girl had a Black Mom who converted to Judaism at age 18 and, some years later, married a Jewish man.
No, the teachers -- especially the Israelis -- are not all that savvy about adoption. However, since I worked in the adoption advocacy field for a while, my daughter was used to hearing discussions about the topic. When questions were asked, her teachers tell me, she would gladly educate people about the one-child policy and poverty in China, or talk about birthparents and abandonment. And I was able to monitor assignments and suggest ways in which my daughter could respond to things such as a request for baby pictures.
The school is definitely expensive. No, it doesn't cost as much as Sidwell Friends or some of the top ranked secular private schools in the DC area. But it's up there. And scholarship money isn't all that readily available, especially for first year students. A lot of the scholarships go to the children of immigrants from places like Russia and Ethiopia. And the school puts most of its money into staff, programs, and facilities. The two campuses are extremely modern and well-equipped.
You mentioned the bus. We lived in DC when Becca first started school, and she took the bus, since I needed to go downtown every day. I was very worried, since Becca was only four when she first started kindergarten, and very tiny.
Well, I talked about my fears to the bus supervisor, an older Jewish woman who is parenting her grandchildren. She urged me not to worry, because my daughter had Mr. Koke for a bus driver. Of course, I worried, but I soon saw what she meant. Mr. Koke was a saint. Becca would fall asleep on the bus on the way home, and he would tenderly carry her off and hand her to me or the babysitter. He was a real plus in helping her adjust -- and in me not being so nervous!
There are several bus routes. I'm not sure if any go out to Howard County, but you can check with Mrs. Lee. If not, the admissions folks will be able to tell you if there are other families out your way, with whom you can make carpool arrrangements. If some of the kids go to the Upper School campus (7th to 12th grade) and some go to the Lower School campus (K-6), there is a shuttle from one to the other.
You do have to apply to the school and not every child is admitted. The children will be screened for kindergarten readiness, both individually and in a group. Becca found the process very non-threatening, and I guess she did fine, as she was admitted. I had been concerned that she might be a bit young, since she had an October birthday, but she turned out to be a bit ahead of the game in maturity and skills.
The school's big weakness, according to many parents, is that it does not do its best with kids who have learning, emotional, or other issues. This may change, as the school has new leadership. But I think this is a problem in many private schools, which tend to select the kids who seem most likely to succeed.
No school is right for every child. But I must say that JDS is right for us.
No kid ever admits to loving school. But when I asked Becca, in the course of our move from DC to Gaithersburg, whether she would like to attend the local public school instead, her response was a horrified, "BUT WHAT ABOUT THE HEBREW?"
Becca loves JDS and has done absolutely incredibly well there. We're believers!
Please feel free to ask questions. If you will email me at
sak9645@starpower.net, I will send you my phone number, so you can call me if you prefer.
Sharon