What does it mean to join RTA? An RTA education is designed to give our children the finest blend in education–the best in academics in a nurturing Jewish environment.
Giving our students literacy in multiple languages (English and Hebrew) and Jewish wisdom complements and enhances their educational growth in core academic and socio-emotional learning. Students leave RTA with the analytical skills necessary to succeed in a competitive high school setting.
RTA Develops “Fundamental Skills”
The RTA curriculum develops “fundamental skills” identified by McKinsey & Co. (https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/public-and-social-sector/our-insights/defining-the-skills-citizens-will-need-in-the-future-world-of-work) to make our students “future-proof” in a rapidly changing world.
Utilizing text-based study and project-based learning, our students cultivate essential cognitive skills such as logical reasoning, structured problem solving and translating knowledge to different contexts. Equally importantly, students develop core relationship skills like empathy and collaboration as they map out group projects and transform educational content into an interactive experience.
This helps students not only synthesize ideas, but also fosters the ability to appreciate differing perspectives.
Flex Academic Coordination
Creating a culture of respect, RTA empowers each child to grow in his or her own way. Through RTA’s flex academic coordination approach, staffing is adapted to respond to the academic needs of each student.
This can mean anything from a dedicated Hebrew language tutor for lateral students in upper grades to a selective art cohort furthering students’ talents and reinforcing learning through an artistic modality.
By coordinating academics adaptively, each student’s strengths are amplified and RTA models adaptability for our students as they learn what it means, and takes, to strive for their highest levels of academic and social success.
Dynamic Enrichment
At RTA, education is enriched with dynamic, student-centered activity. In response to students sharing their interests, RTA’s after school enrichment program was designed to draw on students’ passions, curiosity and mode of expression. The result was more than 10 different enrichment clubs ranging from basketball and soccer to lego engineering, coding, and pottery.
By engaging both the left and right hemispheres of the brain, RTA students are in an optimal environment to expand their minds, and hearts, as they grow into confident, capable, and contributing members of a thriving community.
Beyond the Classroom
An RTA education goes beyond the classroom, putting our values into action. Volunteerism and tzedakah are woven into educational values.
For example, our students develop leadership skills as they conduct programming such as an intergenerational Passover seder in collaboration with the Weinstein JCC.
Our students are more active in their Jewish communal life, whether in their synagogue serving as cantor, leading Torah reading or taking charge of displaying the page number to assist congregants follow along or participating in Jewish youth groups and Jewish camps, volunteering with Friendship Circle.
RTA students are more likely to maintain a connection with their Jewish identity and the Jewish people.
Experiential Learning
At RTA, the learning experience is immersive. In studying the origins of civilization, students might feel what it was like to write in cuneiform on clay tablets. Or, as students learn about the Jewish calendar, they light their own Shabbat candles and manufacture their own shofar. Then, when learning about seed germination, students plant flora of their own and learn to nurture their garden.
Because we believe learning is stronger when it is also tactile, relevant, and engaging, RTA students are guided through their studies immersed in rich and impactful experiences that can last a lifetime.
So, what does it mean to join RTA?
Joining RTA means setting up our children with the cognitive, relational, and socio-emotional skills to excel in a world they will enter that is rapidly changing.
It means empowering our children in a safe and nurturing environment where they feel comfortable and confident to take risks as they explore opportunity.
It means providing our children with literacy and fluency in their Jewish heritage and culture, enabling them to engage with their Jewish identity and community.
Joining RTA means propelling our children’s growth and development with care and intentionality, deeply rooted in Jewish values and forward focused on a lifetime of success.
Please reach out to Elisha Paul, Head of School, at rabbipaul@rudlin.com, to learn more.
