By Robin Pappas, Director of Early Learning Nine years ago, when our Early Childhood Center opened, we committed to providing a play-based, child-centered, and developmentally-appropriate preschool. Students took ownership of their learning, understood the process behind their projects, and most … Read More
21st Century Education
Utopia or Dystopia?
Hardly a week goes by that I don’t come across an analysis that either warns of how automation and Artificial Intelligence are going to wreak havoc on humanity or how they will solve all of humanity’s problems. Either way, our … Read More
The Challenge for Parents: Letting Our Children Be Children
Childhood should be a time of awe and wonder; an opportunity to play, explore, create and to learn in a fashion that promotes healthy living and optimism. Then why do so many children suffer from anxiety and depression, and why … Read More
Best of Both Worlds and Our Future
Maddie was a state champion in debate, Seth was an AIPAC intern, and Hannah works for Microsoft while Yoni is at Google. Laurenne recently completed her service in the IDF as a Lone Soldier, Robert was elected 9th grade class … Read More
Will Your Children Be Ready?
The tension between the realities of the future and the comfort of a reliably perceived past are palpable. Put another way, the security of “this is the way we have always done it,” versus the uneasiness of preparing for an … Read More
What a Standardized Test Can’t Predict is What our Students Need to Learn
The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, World Economic Forum, and Scientific America run stories routinely about what students need to learn and do to be successful in the future. An endless stream of studies, counter-studies, information, … Read More
Grades Fail Students
High school students, vying to get into college, know that the application process is a game with its own set of rules: Get good grades, get enough tutoring to ace the ACT or SAT, and make sure you have lots … Read More
Be Aware of Technology and Social Media
In 1908, in Detroit, cars were seen as a vexing problem. That summer, 31 people were reported to have been injured or killed after being hit by a car, or after a car accident. Many more deaths were not even … Read More
Beyond the Why
Singapore. Hong Kong. New Zealand. Finland. What does Hillel Day School have in common with these far-off countries? A commitment to changing education to prepare children for the competitive and complex world they are inheriting. The schools in these countries … Read More
Where Truth Can Be Found
From time to time I am asked how religion and science intersect at Hillel. Many people believe that there must be an inherent tension between science and religion, as if one possesses the “right” answer about questions of the universe, … Read More