Prayer & Celebration

Prayer and spiritual development are core values of our school. Daily prayer services at developmentally appropriate levels enable our students to encounter God within community. These prayer services allow for the acquisition of basic skills in siddur and traditional chant, but also provide opportunities for more individualized expressions of spirituality.

At Schechter, the weekly and annual Jewish calendar serves as a canvas for learning and communal engagement. The halls of the Lower School are filled every week with students and parents singing and dancing for Kabbalat Shabbat alongside cantors and rabbis from the community. Prior to Pesach, the Lower School holds a school-wide Seder that integrates Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Mizrahi traditions, while students in the Middle School share our Seder traditions with the neighboring Catholic students from the St. Aidan’s Parish. Outside of school, our families celebrate together with Shabbat and holiday meals, and help build the communal ties that bind us to one another year-round.