Memphis, TN (8/23/07) – Over the summer, Memphis Jewish High School received a letter from the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE) commending the school for the innovation and high standards which have been brought to this new endeavor. The Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education is a collaborative initiative of major philanthropic partners, whose goal is to strengthen the Jewish day school movement by increasing enrollment in Jewish day schools in North America. PEJE is a national organization of visionary Jewish philanthropists seeking to establish a vibrant and sustainable Jewish future through strengthening the Jewish day school movement in North America.

"We could not be more pleased or proud of receiving a Letter of Commendation from PEJE,” said Andrew J. Groveman, president of Memphis Jewish High School. "This letter is further validation of our commitment to quality Jewish education and general studies education at the high school level."

Adrian Weissman, head of school, was thrilled with the recognition of the school’s innovative and high standards in secondary Jewish education. "We have nearly doubled our school’s population in only our second year with students from all backgrounds, including Orthodox, Conservative and Reform, students with day school backgrounds and students with public school backgrounds, each working together towards a common goal to maximize one another’s potential. We wanted to share this letter with the community so that they, along with us, could better appreciate the national reputation that Memphis Jewish High School is creating,” Weissman said. "The student-centered Harkness Method maximizes each student’s potential in the learning process. The specially made oval Harkness table lends itself to an interactive environment that fosters communication between and among the students and the teacher. Students not only learn the subject matter, but as well, learn how to discuss, listen, accept others’ ideas and advocate for their own, all centered around the Harkness table,” said Weissman. Below is the transcript of the letter:

Dear Mr. Groveman and Ms. Weissman,

I want to commend you for the innovation and high standards that you have brought to your new high school. At PEJE, we have seen many new high schools opening across the country during the past decade, and so we have some sense of how these schools get started and the kinds of decisions that they make. Your investment in high quality of education is quite palpable and so commendable.

I’d like to single out your decision to embrace the Harkness method, pioneered at Philips Exeter Academy, and focused on the use of a uniquely shaped table to promote a certain kind of discussion in small groups. While the Harkness method may have focused once on mathematics, you have taken it to a deeper level by applying it to other parts of the curriculum. What stands out to me about the method is that it enables students to solve problems in a student-centered way and through extensive discussion that is facilitated by the furniture in the room – very different from the typical individual desks.

I believe that the Harkness method is one of those innovations in education that needs to be picked up by more schools. The day school field will look to you and your students as you adapt the Harkness method to Jewish learning. My hope is that there will be other Jewish day schools across the country, as well as schools of other denominations, that will embrace this particular methodology. We need to put students more at the center and we need to do much more collective problem solving as opposed to didactic, frontal instruction. This kind of method reduces the reliance on memorization, which plagues so much of education.

May your decision to use the Harkness method be one that inspires not only yourselves and your students and faculty, but also others around the country so that there can be a larger Harkness community bringing this kind of engaged education to the foreground within the Jewish day school movement.

Best wishes for continued success.

Sincerely,
Joshua Elkin, Ed. D.
Executive Director