Finally, that same day, in a stark reminder that these important acts of kindness exist in the context of a rigorous academic environment, the College Board sent the results of our students’ most recent round of SAT testing. We were pleased with the scores, which affirmed our students’ hard work, dedicated preparation, and eager anticipation of the college application process.

The coincidence of these three events highlights the unique aspirations of our school. Like any top-tier independent or public school, we are appropriately focused on providing the best possible academic experience and outcomes for our students. What distinguishes The Leffell School, however, is that this academic experience is embedded within an environment that also fosters other critically important outcomes: the nurturing of values, a sense of responsibility for others and towards the broader community, and a joyful embracing of Jewish practice.

We have adopted for ourselves an incredibly ambitious mission: to enable families from a wide range of Jewish backgrounds to benefit from a world-class scholastic program that opens doors to an exciting future — without asking them to compromise on other elements of the schooling experience that are important to them. Of course, this refusal to compromise on excellence extends beyond the realms of Jewish life and character development, to such areas as the arts, athletics, and engineering. In fact, just days before I received the emails about the coffee shop, the sukkah building, and the SAT, I learned through other messages that five of our student musicians and singers were named to the Area All-State Orchestra and Choir for the New York State School Music Association, that we would be establishing new teams in two different interscholastic sports, and that two additional student groups now have U.S. patent applications pending for products that they invented in our Engineering and Entrepreneurship (E²) program.

As any head of school would, I felt great pride when I learned about our students’ performance on the SAT. We are a school, after all, and academic success and preparation for college lie at the core of our organizational goals and success metrics. I will admit, though, that the letter from the College Board was not the most exciting email I received that Monday — that honor belongs to the communication about our students in the coffee shop, or perhaps the plan to build sukkot throughout the community. For our mission/obligation is far more important to the future of our society — and far more sacred to the future of the Jewish people — than the mere intellectual training of students. We will have been successful only if these students also feel a responsibility to assume the mantle of leadership, to act as caring world citizens of strong character, and to embody on a daily basis the values with which they have been imbued throughout their lives.

How do we do this? I welcome you to enjoy this issue of Kavanot, as we explore a day in the life of The Leffell School for six of our students.