Shacharit - Multiple Options

Breakfast by Network

Meetings by Network - Workshops and Sessions planned by each network

DeLeT Alumni

PARDES

PEJE

RAVSAK

Schechter Day School Network

YU Institute for University-School Partnership

Lunch by Network

Meetings by Network Continued

Mincha

Open Networking Lounge
Is there a conversation you’d like to have, but you don’t see listed on the program schedule? Host one or join one at the Open Networking Lounge. Whether or not you have already posted or accepted a pre-conference invitation, time and space are available for you to continue a conversation in progress, pose a new question, or explore a topic with others who share your interest. This is also a great time and place for school or community teams to collaborate, sharing conference learning and planning action to take back home. Come in together or find each other at the Open Networking Lounge.

Government and Day Schools: Everything You Need to Know and Are Afraid to Ask
Nathan J. Diament, Melissa Rogers & Rabbi David Saperstein
Advocacy to the government on behalf of Jewish day schools elicits immediate, strong and varied reactions. What do we, as leaders, need to know about the day school field's relationship with the government? What should it be? What can it be? Does it differ at the federal, state, and local levels? Jewish community leaders hold very different views.

This moderated panel will share common ground, and provide clarity on these controversial issues. Deeper understanding of divergent perspectives will equip us as leaders to engage in vital discussions around our board tables and within our communities.

Aligning the Field and the Academy: A Call To Action for Teacher Training! How Will Our Teachers Succeed?
Rabbi Steven M. Brown, Ed.D
Panelists: Amy Ament, Dr. Sharon Feiman-Nemser, Dr. Barry W. Holtz, Rona Novick, Dr. Miriam Heller Stern & Dr. Susan Wall
What should your teachers know before they start, and what help do they need when they start? Come share your insight and experience as school leaders with leaders of graduate and teacher induction /mentoring programs. Discuss questions such as, What visions of good teaching inform our programs of teacher preparation and development? What role do/can/should schools play in preparing, inducting and developing effective day school teachers? How could research on learning to teach inform programs of day school teacher education?

Building Advocacy from the Inside Out
Marta Stiglin
Advocacy is as much about looking inward, within yourself and your organization, as it is about broadcasting outward. It’s about taking action based on three I's—intuition, information, inspiration—to influence the beliefs and behaviors of others. Explore how to transform what we feel, what we know, and what we are most passionate about into an advocacy plan that will have a lasting impact on the audiences we seek to influence.

Growing Our Own: Using Alumni as Leaders in Our School
Graham Hoffman
Although many day schools struggle with sustaining outstanding leadership in building boards and filling key professional appointments, the truth is that extraordinary leaders are often closer than we might realize. Often among our alumni we can discover remarkable leadership capacity which has simply been untapped, unrealized or underappreciated. Explore numerous strategies, insights and approaches to engage, identify and cultivate leadership and support from our alumni to power the future of our schools and the entire Jewish world.

Head Support and Evaluation: Expanding What is Possible
Rabbi Dr. Josh Elkin
Many acknowledge how critical head support and evaluation is; however, the implementation leaves much to be desired. Examine some of the obstacles which often interfere with the successful functioning of a head support and evaluation committee, and how those obstacles can be overcome. Obtain new strategies for navigating the blending of support and evaluation, and a commitment to bring the new possibilities home to your schools.

Judaism in My School: Core Value or Added Value?
Zvi Hirschfield
The goal of this workshop is not to determine which of these approaches is "better" or the ideal. Together, we explore the differences between these models and the challenges and opportunities in both, as we attempt to clarify the role of a guiding vision of Judaism and Jewish values in our schools. Come to reflect on your own experience in your schools with implications for future planning.

Leading and Literacy: Writing Across the Curriculum as a Leadership Focus
John J. Collins Ed.D.M
Forty-six states in the US have adopted a set of math and literacy standards to help students become career and college ready. As leaders, we must be sure our students meet these standards even if we do not adopt the national tests that assess them. Learn about the national standards and the recent research in the power of writing to help students meet these standards. Acquire writing activities that leaders can bring back to their schools for teachers to implement in all aspects of the curriculum, including Judaic studies. Gain an easy-to-use system to check if implementation of these strategies has taken place.

Leading with Data About the Core Jewish Purposes of Jewish Day Schools
Shana Harris & Alex Pomson
For professional and volunteer leaders: explore how you can generate and utilize data to guide decision-making regarding key educational purposes. Discover how Toronto's Bialik school collected rich statistical data about students’ attitudes and conceptions toward Judaism and Israel. The case-narrative pauses at a series of decision-point moments. Participants consider what they would do; what conclusions they might derive from the data; and what skills and capacities they would need to deal with similar challenges.

Moving from Authenticity to Integrity: A Conversation about Jewish Practice in Jewish Day Schools
Aliza Kline
How do we create an atmosphere, in our schools and communities, where individuals feel safe, valued and warmly accepted, regardless of their particular style of observance? How can we foster environments where students, faculty and parents are encouraged to deepen their own religious identity while becoming more open to and understanding of others? How might we address significant personal and communal issues—Israel, interfaith families, the participation of girls—in a productive and inclusive way? Come with stories that shed light on the meaning of "authenticity" and "integrity" in your community.

Preparing Students for Leadership in a Jewish Future Unknown
Aryeh Lightstone, Judy Schoenberg & Rabbi Bradley Solmsen
According to recent studies, Jewish day schools disproportionately produce those who grow to take leadership roles in the Jewish community. Schools assure parents that they will help develop their teen leadership skills. But what do we mean when we talk about teen leadership? Learn about effective approaches to developing teen leaders and discuss whether there are particular opportunities or challenges that might exist in Jewish day schools for achieving leadership goals. 

The Role of the Board in the Success of a School:  Goal Setting and Monitoring
Amy Markham
How can board members best set goals for their school and monitor implementation in periods of change and uncertainty? Explore a process for developing clear, measurable annual goals and creating scorecards to track progress in each of the major categories of school management: leadership development, operations, financial health, and academic program. Also, discuss examples that show how scenario planning can help schools weather tough times and rapid change and enable individual reflection and sharing experience among peers.

What Makes a Good Leader? Dueling Views of Choni Hame‘aggel (Ta‘anit 23a)
Rabbi Ethan Tucker
As teachers, we are leaders in our classrooms. To what sort of ideal do we aspire: charismatic? disciplined? traditional? radical? Explore rabbinic traditions surrounding Choni the Circle Drawer, as we learn not only a great deal about him but about visions of leadership held by those who told his story.

What's Your Current and Future Leadership Style?
Rich Tafel
Learn four things: an understanding of three traditional leadership styles and which style you should use; insight into where and how we develop our leadership styles; an awareness of latest science measuring leadership styles and how styles evolve; and a review of how the world’s complexity will require new leadership styles for the future and how we can prepare ourselves.

Wine Reception

Dinner

Maariv

DeLeT Alumni Reception
For alumni, faculty and school administrators to say goodbye to HUC DeLeT alumna Rachel Minkove z"l, and to celebrate the powerful teaching and learning that has grown from the DeLeT program.

ELI Talks
At last year's conference the AVI CHAI Foundation's inaugural production of ELI Talks was a big hit. Come back this year to watch and discuss selected dynamic talks and engage with new ideas about Jewish literacy, religious engagement and peoplehood.

Yeshiva University Office of Alumni Affairs Reception
Find out what's new at YU, see old friends and meet new ones at a dessert reception for Yeshiva University alumni and friends.