Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation's Capital

Shabbat Shalom from our South Campus scientists!

Join us for our annual Purim Ball on Sunday, February 23--only one month away! Purim Ball is an annual community celebration of our incredible school that has been happening since 1992. Members from across our community come together to eat, drink, schmooze, and celebrate leadership and excellence in Jewish education. You can register here: https://www.givecampus.com/schools/MiltonGottesmanJewishDaySchooloftheNationsCapital/events/purim-ball-2025

Congrats to our Grade 6 students on a successful, fascinating Ancient Egypt Expo! Each student became an expert on one element of Ancient Egyptian life and culture, from architecture to religion to weaponry to food to fashion, and created a model of an item related to their field. It was an informative morning!

During our PD day today, we were delighted to welcome veteran teacher, principal, and superintendent John D'Auria, who taught us about mindsets and conditions that can help to build a growth-oriented culture in schools. We also continued our work on the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) with Prizmah's Debra Drang. Thank you to John and Debra for their expertise!

Scenes from our Pre-K Chagigat Halomedim, where students shared their colorful portraits of themselves and the things they love that they've been working hard on all semester. Other highlights include "mensch sculptures," Hebrew songs and skits, learning about the five senses, and many, many, other styles of self portraits.

Grade 8 takes the White House!

We are honored to join with Gesher Jewish Day School and Berman Hebrew Academy to dedicate a day of learning at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School to honor the memory of Rabbi Matthew Bellas, Lower School Principal, who passed away tragically last month.

"Ask a good question, learn something new, and be kind to everyone."

Kindness superhero costumes...hygiene packages for people in need...a spectacular Kindergartener-designed Little Free Pantry...creative Hebrew music performances...and that doesn't even scratch the surface! Our Kindergarten Chagigat Halomedim this morning was a joyful celebration of all our Kindergartners have learned so far this year, and the culmination of their fall kindness projects!

Yesterday was our Grade 1 Chagigat HaLomedim! Students shared short stories, Hebrew writing, and their project work on local waterways with their families.

Impressively, they showcased functional bridges they built for the Anacostia, Potomac, and C&O Canal, keeping the needs of each in mind. They also created models of flora and fauna found around each waterway. We are so proud of their hard work!

Say hello to DC's newest city planners! Grade 2 students spent the first half of the year learning about different components of a city and working on designs for their own buildings that would enhance and improve DC. They presented their models, and letters to the mayor, today at the DC Expo!

In the South Campus Sadnah, students have been hard at work making bridges, tzedekah boxes, color theory sculptures, and more--all out of recycled materials.

Read our story in this month's MILTON magazine to learn more about how students are being empowered to make with the materials of the world around them, learning to collaborate with others, and connecting creatively to their classroom work in our amazing Sadnah program! Link: https://www.miltongottesman.org/students-learn-their-potential-as-everyday-makers-in-sadnah/

We are back...and still enjoying the snow!

It's almost 2025...don’t drop the ball on giving to the MILTON Fund! Your gift helps set us up for a year filled with experiential learning opportunities and support for our incredible faculty and staff.

It’s a Hanukkah miracle! The next $36,000 given to the MILTON fund will be doubled. We'd like it a LATKE if you considered including the MILTON fund in your year-end giving.

Happy Chanukah!

TBT to some moments from our all-school Chanukah assembly last Friday--which was also our Posh Shabbat theme day. We wish you all a holiday filled with joy, light, and peace.

In Animation Inspiration, students created stopmotion shorts based on Jewish holidays and stories.

In Architecture, students visited iconic buildings around DC and learned about their different architectural styles.

And in Rhythmic Journeys, students learned different styles of dance and choreographed their own!

We were thrilled to experience these immersive, educational, inspiring journeys alongside our students.

So many more amazing Immersive Learning Week groups!

Students in Spies and Espionage learned about the lives of spies, different kinds of codes, and spies throughout history. They put their skills to the test in an escape room!

In the Physics of Flight, students learned what goes into making a plane, designed airports, tried out flight simulators, and modeled an assembly line for making a plane.

In Art: Passion and Purpose, students explored different ways that artists use their work to further a purpose or express personal passions. They visited museums across DC, did a street art walk, and worked on their own art personal art projects.