Student Life and Community

At the Shefa School, students who learn differently can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally in a caring and supportive Jewish environment. All instruction throughout the day is specifically designed to maximize the learning of students with language-based learning disabilities. Our program builds upon individual strengths while teaching students the skills they need to realize their academic potential, with the goal of enabling them to return confidently and successfully to mainstream settings.

Students in a classroom are focused on their laptops, including a boy in the foreground wearing glasses and a kippah, with a teacher assisting in the background, amidst a vibrant learning environment.

A Balanced Program

Our high-quality balanced curriculum encompasses the academic, social, emotional, and physical needs of our students.

Program highlights include :

  • A robust arts and music program that engages children’s multiple intelligences and provides different access points and modes of expression
  • A thoughtful social-emotional learning curriculum that develops skills to promote self-esteem, caring relationships, and responsible decision-making, with community building integrated through daily Morning Meeting and throughout the day
  • Small advisory groups that meet daily in Middle School and provide a forum for social-emotional learning, organizational skill development, and discussion of developmentally relevant topics such as internet safety, bullying, and health education
  • An interest groups activity block, called chug, allows our students both to receive small-group language and/or occupational therapy intervention as needed and to participate in activities such as cooking, Lego, and drama
  • Lunch clubs, student government, overnight trips, and school-wide leadership opportunities for Middle School students
  • A physical education program that builds strength, coordination, and skills while fostering teamwork and resilience
  • A technology program that thoughtfully introduces students to keyboarding and other computer literacy skills and is integrated with daily learning
  • Executive functioning and organizational skills instruction embedded throughout the school day
  • Field trips that enhance our curriculum and expose students to a broad range experiences and communities
wo young girls, one with an arm around the other, sit smiling on a gym floor during a school event, with students and classmates seated in the background.

Jewish Life

For students at the Shefa School, Jewish life is woven into the fabric of each and every day.Through experiencing the rhythm and beauty of our Jewish calendar, thoughtful integration of Jewish content into subject areas, and a conscious emphasis on Jewish values, we foster a love and passion for Jewish life and learning.

Program highlights include :

  • Joyful and interactive daily tefillah (prayer)
  • Torah study that brings relevance and meaning to our sacred text and gives students ownership and a depth of knowledge
  • Weekly school-wide Shabbat celebration featuring music, Torah, and curricular highlights from the week
  • Regular opportunities for tikkun olam (repairing the world) within the school and the broader community
  • Study of and connection to Israel

Active Family Partnership

Shefa families are actively involved in the life of the school.

At Shefa, families come together around:

  • Celebrations of Jewish learning milestones and of student work
  • Holiday events that welcome families to learn and celebrate along with Shefa students
  • Parent workshops around a variety of topics
  • Monthly breakfasts with the Head of School
  • Parent-teacher conferences with an integrated team and ongoing frequent communication including in-depth student progress reports
  • Parents Association-sponsored events and meetings
  • Opportunities for grandparents and other family members to experience life at Shefa
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40 East 29th Street, New York, NY 10016
212-873-1300  |  info@shefaschool.org
The Shefa School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs
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