Founded in 1979, San Diego Jewish Academy began in the San Carlos neighborhood of San Diego. Initially offering a general and Jewish education program to kindergarten through fifth-grade students, the Academy expanded its program to middle school students in 1988, then to high school students in 1999.
In 2000, with incredible leadership and passion from our community, state-of-the-art campus on 52 acres in Carmel Valley was built. As our Jewish community has grown, and become more robust and more diverse, so have we. Serving children from preschool through high school, SDJA is the largest Jewish day school in San Diego.
For 38 years, SDJA has been a leader in preschool to 12th-grade education – nurturing Jewish values and Jewish life in generations of students and preparing them to be advocates, entrepreneurs, and leaders in their communities to affect change worldwide world.
We instill a deep understanding and respect for the values and insights of Jewish tradition and Israel's love that will lead students to live lives of Jewish meaning. We embrace a curriculum that brings creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurial thinking alive on campus and expands thinking through real-world experience.
It starts here, where our children learn what it means to be an inheritor and designer of the Jewish future. Here, where they learn the tools to make a difference in the world by being an informed learner, listener, and leader. Here, where they become part of a community that will continue to serve them long after they have graduated.
At San Diego Jewish Academy, we embrace a curriculum that inspires and explores creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurial thinking. Through our intimate learning environment, we recognize our students as individuals and appreciate their unique talents. We personalize our academics so that our students are not limited in learning by age or grade. Our state-of-the-art facilities provide students with a place to learn through science, music, art, and sports. At the same time, they explore their interests through our advanced enrichment programs such as robotics, debate, green technologies, and more.
At San Diego Jewish Academy, we believe that our students' social-emotional growth is a vital component of their education, helping them succeed as individuals and as positive members of the community. We have several different but complementary support services to help students achieve these goals both in the Golda Meir Lower School and Maimonides Upper School. On-campus, our team of teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, faculty advisors, and learning specialists collaborate to help students cultivate powerful tools to thrive academically, socially, and emotionally.
The Learning Center at San Diego Jewish Academy provides educational assistance during school hours to increase their success in the classroom. Small-group sessions combine both educational techniques and a global approach to learning. Unlike tutoring, which is often associated with one subject or content area, the learning center method is broader, emphasizing multiple strategies to help children learn more effectively. An integrative approach is taken while organizing and completing homework or studying for upcoming tests and quizzes; students simultaneously learn the tools needed to become independent learners.
The lower school offers an ESL program for students learning English as a Second Language. The ESL teacher conducts a pull-out program to give students directed lessons that strengthen vocabulary, grammar, reading, and writing skills. Students are pulled out in small groups for approximately 30-45 minutes, three to five days per week, with students of likeability and of similar age whenever possible. Because most of the school day is spent within the regular classroom among native English speakers, most students require just one or two years of ESL help before being fully integrated into their classrooms.
A guidance counselor is on campus four days per week and acts as a resource for students, parents, teachers, and administrators. The counselor teaches formal guidance lessons on resolving conflicts peacefully, peer relationships, and respect. The counselor works with individual and small groups of students to help them problem-solve and runs social skills groups on an as-needed basis. Other services offered include professional development for staff and parent coffees on topics involving students' social and emotional development.
College counseling at San Diego Jewish Academy is grounded in introspection. In the freshman and sophomore years, students and parents meet informally with the Dean of Academic Affairs to discuss academic counseling matters. Formal college counseling begins in the junior year. A meeting with students and parents is held in late fall, during which an overview of the college selection and application process is offered.
By the end of the process, suitable matches have been determined, and students go to destinations where they continue to grow. The Counseling Office smiles, just a touch, at each individual's individual 'sumph once the admission season draws to a close every year.
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