MJHS Opens August 14, 2006!
Friday, August 04, 2006
MEMPHIS JEWISH HIGH SCHOOL TO OPEN AUGUST 14, 2006
Historic Day for Memphis Jewish Community
Memphis, Tn. (8/4/2006) – The founders of the Memphis Jewish High School (MJHS) have announced that the school will begin classroom instruction with ninth grade (freshman) students on August 14, 2006. The school will be the first co-ed Jewish High School in the city.
Andy Groveman, president of the Memphis Jewish High School, says “Our ability to open this school for the 2006-2007 academic year is a testament to the unyielding energy and dedication of the school founders and the high-quality administrators and faculty who have joined.”
Groveman points out that the school will be a unique educational experience for the Memphis Jewish community. MJHS will be the first school in the city to make the Harkness Method of teaching integral to its curriculum. Harkness is an innovative teaching method that empowers students to take active ownership of their education. Memphis Jewish High School will be a coeducational school that integrates an intensive Jewish Studies program with a challenging college preparatory curriculum in an environment of warmth and excellence. The school’s mission is to strive for the finest Jewish Studies program and General Studies program in the region, preparing students for success in college and beyond. The founders of this new Jewish high school believe a co-ed, dual track educational system will be the best model to attain a transformation in thinking in our community about the merits of formal Jewish high school education. MJHS’s curriculum will be designed to accommodate students that have had previous private Jewish Day School Education, as well as those with no formal Jewish educational background. Memphis currently has 400 students who attend formal Jewish day schools from pre-K through 12th grade. Memphis Jewish High School will add a grade each year through 2010 when it will offer ninth through twelfth grades.
Administration and Staff Memphis Jewish High School has had great success recruiting an extraordinary staff. Attracting some of the finest and most admired teachers and administrators in the area, the school will be able to offer a strong academic and Jewish studies experience beginning with the first semester. Positions filled to date include:
§ Ms. Adrian Weissman, Head of School. Weissman comes to MJHS from her prior position as director of the Early Childhood Program at the Memphis Jewish Community Center. She is well versed and experienced in monitoring, coordinating, instructing, and implementing educational programs based on compliance with local, state, and federal guidelines. She will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of administration, curriculum development, and student recruitment, and also for instilling in the school a culture of support and nurturing for each of its students. She will lead the effort to integrate both the Jewish studies and general studies, with a well-rounded offering of academics, arts, technology and extracurricular opportunity.
§ Mr. Aviezer Gellman, Dean of Jewish Studies. For three years, Gellman was principal of an Israeli high school affiliated with a Hesder Yeshiva. He was responsible for curriculum development and setting educational goals and values in accordance with the principles of the Yeshiva. In addition, he was responsible for the development of special and innovative programs and is considered a gifted, engaging and inspiring master teacher in Jewish studies.
§ Mr. Eric Berman, Dean of General Studies and Master Teacher. Berman is a 14-year master teacher with Memphis University School (MUS) in Memphis. He was awarded the University of Chicago’s Outstanding Teacher Award in 1995. Fluent in Spanish and French, and conversant in German and Portuguese, he also received the MUS Award for Teaching Excellence in 1994. He is a member of the National History Honor Society. Other educational accomplishments include the design and implementation of an online diagnostic test for AP students in U.S. History.
§ Ms. Joan Traffas, General Studies Coordinator and Master Teacher. Traffas, a 19 year master teacher, joins the school from St. Mary's in Memphis. Teaching experience includes European History, Humanities, Thesis Research, World History, AP European History, United States History, Contemporary History seminars, Cultural Studies, and Research Paper Methodology.
§ Ms. Margaret Ann Indingaro, Master Teacher and Math Department Head. Indingaro currently oversees and heads the mathematics department for the Shelby County School system. At Memphis Jewish High School, she will be teaching all levels of math, as well as developing the mathematics curriculum for all grades.
§ Ms. Rebecca Pharr, College Guidance Counselor. Pharr brings to Memphis Jewish High School over 20 years of hands-on, individualized counseling to students and parents. Her most recent position was director of college counseling at Ridgeway High School for 11 years. She was instrumental in building the Jewish student participation at Ridgeway. Prior to that position, she was the guidance coordinator and college counselor at Central High School in Memphis.
§ Dr. Meera Krishnan, Master Teacher of Biology. For the past six years, Dr. Krishnan has taught Honors & AP Biology in grades 9-12 at Ridgeway High School. Dr. Krishnan is widely published in the fields of immunology and computer science, and she is also an expert in educational technology software.
§ Ms. Hanna Jackubowitz Hudson, Master Teacher of Hebrew Language. Since 1995 Hudson has taught Hebrew language at the University of Memphis’ Bornblum Judaic Studies program, along with cultural anthropology courses. In addition, she has taught Hebrew language courses at the University of Tennessee/Knoxville, and 5th-8th grade Hebrew language at Solomon Schechter Day School. In addition to English and Hebrew, Hudson also speaks West African Krio (Anglo). She served in the Israeli Defense Force from 1974-1976.
§ Ms. Carol DeForest, Master Teacher of Art. DeForest is a well-known Memphis artist. She has taught advanced placement students at the Memphis College of Art, was an instructor at Rhodes College and at the Governor’s School of the Arts at Middle Tennessee State University.
Harkness Method of Teaching
Memphis Jewish High School will implement a style of teaching known as the Harkness Method. This style of teaching was first initiated by Phillips Exeter Academy, and adopted by other leading American independent schools, including Horace Mann School, The Hotchkiss School, Phillips Academy, St. Paul’s School, and The Masters School. The innovative teaching method empowers students to take active ownership of their education. Tangibly, the result was an oval table around which teachers and students engaged in cooperative inquiry.
Memphis Jewish High School teachers will conduct classes in a discussion format. Both teachers and students will be committed to an ideal of active, participatory, student-centered learning which values teaching students not just a given course’s content, but the skills required to become their own and each other’s teachers. A place at the Harkness Table will require students to exercise a high degree of self-discipline, and to engage eagerly and energetically with both peers and instructors.
Adrian Weissman, head of school, said that a formal dedication and open house will be held in the not too distant future “to show our community the Memphis Jewish High School up close and personal.”
For more information on Memphis Jewish High School or an application, call Adrian Weissman at 901.767.4818.
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