Solomon Schechter Day School of Bergen County is a coeducational Jewish day school, located in New Milford in Bergen County, New Jersey. The school is a member of the Solomon Schechter Day School Association and the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools.[1] The school has approximately 400 students from Pre-K through 8th grade.
About Schechter
Whether it's a middle school student learning the physics of soap-bubble membranes with online peers in Israel or a third-grader grappling with the concept of what the Torah means when it instructs man to "obey God," Schechter students are constantly encouraged to stretch the limits of their curiosity, expand their imaginations, and satisfy their own desires to learn.
Schechter's innovative academic curriculum includes the introduction of chess and Suzuki violin in the early childhood program; Singapore Math and Ma'agal Midot ["Circle of Values" — a pioneering social-emotional curriculum] in the lower school; and, such middle school electives as "Geometer's Sketchpad," Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. The new After School Academy[2] @ Schechter offers middle school students from the entire community the opportunity to pursue courses such as video game design, public speaking, and stem cell biology.
Building upon inquiry-based learning, the Schechter approach relies upon "Experts, Role Models, and Eyewitnesses." This past year alone, two current members of the Israeli Knesset, a NASA astronaut, an eyewitness to Kristalnacht, and the national vice president of the Jewish National Fund all visited the school. In addition, Schechter has collaborated with Rabbi Ethan Tucker and Mechon Hadar in New York City for a series of Beit Midrash-style sessions to study classical Jewish texts with the middle school and the faculty, as well as adult learners from the Bergen County Jewish community.
Schechter also reaches out beyond its walls to make connections with the world. Middle school students make weekly visits to residents of the Jewish Home at Rockleigh; they initiate a myriad of hesed ["acts of kindness"] and Tikkun Olam ["repairing the world"] projects — from participating in Breast Cancer Awareness activities to collecting canned goods to feed the hungry and winter coats to clothe the underprivileged.