New Beginnings
A Year of New Beginnings
With your wonderful support, 2021/22 was a year of exciting new beginnings. We welcomed Rabbi Danny Lehmann as our new Head of School, we brought parents and visitors back to campus (after more than a year of COVID isolation) for meaningful celebrations, and we piloted several new initiatives to enhance our curriculum.
Below are some of the highlights of our academic programs:
Entrepreneurship and Social Impact Program in the Upper School:
Thanks to a grant from the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco and the Jim Joseph Foundation, we were excited to pilot a new program in 2021/22: Entrepreneurship @ Hausner. Our pilot program, rooted in Jewish teachings and values, serves as an example of how Hausner students work together to make our world a better place through innovation and team work. Watch this video for highlights from the two-day workshop for Hausner’s upper school students. Based on the success of our initiative, three other Bay Area Jewish Day Schools are now piloting the program.
Philosophy for Children:
Jana Mohr Lone, the Director and Founder of the University of Washington’s Center for Philosophy for Children, began working with Hausner’s instructional team throughout the 2021/22 school year on lesson development, instructional strategies, and overall program implementation. This program piloted in grades K and 6, with plans to expand the program to all grades over the next several years. Philosophy for Children aligns with our treasured Jewish tradition of critical thinking and inquiry based learning. Our students are given the opportunity and encouragement to reflect on life's complex topics thoughtfully and imaginatively, fostering valuable lifelong skills.
Stanford @ Hausner Speaker Series:
Hausner launched a series of presentations by Stanford professors with a goal of engaging students in an exploration of cutting-edge research. We recorded these presentations for our entire community to enjoy.
- Professor Nate Persily of Stanford Law School spoke with our middle schoolers on the topic of “Democracy and the Internet.”
- Professor Donna Zulman of the Stanford School of Medicine spoke with our upper schoolers on the topic of "Bridging the Digital Divide: Opportunities to Increase Access to Health Care through Telemedicine.”
- Professor Alfred Spormann, Stanford professor of environmental engineering, spoke about his work with a new research institute focused on carbon dioxide-capturing technologies.
- Professor Vera Gribanova, professor of Linguistics explained the field of linguistics to our curious students.
Transitional Kindergarten:
Welcoming 13 of our youngest students to campus was one of the greatest joys of the school year. The entire campus benefitted from the lively enthusiasm, eagerness, and curiosity that our transitional kindergarteners brought with them to school each and every day. Our TK class is the first new grade at Hausner in decades and extends our school now to 10 separate grades. The program continues to gain momentum, and in the 2022/23 school year our TK class comprises 17 students. Our new TK classroom with its own outdoor play space, is located in the Upper school building, in what was previously a maker space room.