Partner Spotlight:
The Brandeis School of San Francisco
A Jewish Day School Reimagines Civic Education
How can we prepare young people to become stewards of democracy in an increasingly polarized society? At the Brandeis School of San Francisco, educators are tackling this challenge by weaving it throughout the curriculum.And now, they are making it easy for other Jewish educators to build on their success.
From “Justice Brandeis Day” to stuffed animal mock elections, the Brandeis School’s newly released Migfash Playbook offers ideas for schools seeking to implement values-centered civics education, strengthening both democratic engagement and American Jewish communities.
Head of School Dan Glass said that this project emerged from an “aha!” moment in 2016 when he observed the unintended impact of polarized political discourse on the school's youngest students. Recognizing that children were genuinely frightened by adult conversations about politics, Glass initiated a community-wide conversation about recognizing humanity across political differences.
“People had allowed themselves to speak hyperbolically about politics in that election cycle in a way that just, frankly, freaked kids out,” said Glass. “So I wrote a letter to our community essentially saying that we need to push ourselves to recognize the humanity in one another even when we see things differently.
Strategic Priorities: Civic Learning; Ideological Pluralism; Free, Fair, Safe & Accessible Elections
Commitment: The Brandeis School of San Francisco will develop a K-8 curriculum connecting Jewish ethics and civic engagement.
Partners since: 2024
What started as a letter to the school community catalyzed a deeper exploration of how schools might better prepare young people for democratic participation.
"We ended up with a strategic plan that named an aspiration that Brandeis students would go on to be leaders in their communities and stewards of democracy," Glass shared. "And then we started to think about that phrasing. How do you teach a kid to be a 'steward of democracy?' How would you do that at a K-8 level, other than just putting some pretty words on a page?"
The resulting project brought together a diverse team of educators to experiment with approaches to civic education appropriate for elementary and middle school students. Through support from the Covenant Foundation, the school built partnerships with organizations like Civic Spirit and Facing History and Ourselves (both partners in the Jewish Partnership for Democracy), whose resources enriched their work.
This collaborative approach ultimately led Brandeis to connect with the Jewish Partnership for Democracy.
Glass recalled how the partnership developed:
"As we were talking about this project, we kept hearing, 'oh, have you heard of A More Perfect Union?” or “Do you know about A More Perfect Union?' And at some point, someone said, 'you should really look at A More Perfect Union and see what they're doing.'"
One particularly successful aspect of the project was a faculty engagement initiative (replete with clever "Vote" t-shirts featuring Jewish wisdom and patriotic themed snacks) supported by an Ignition Grant from The Jewish Partnership for Democracy. Brandeis, like A More Perfect Union, has a stated priority of bringing joy into their work. Glass emphasized the importance of making civic education fun, especially in the context of fraught political moments.
"We are an intentionally joyful place. That is part of how we structure our work and how we try to show up," Glass said. "People don't always experience politics as joyful – especially lately. So we were thoughtful in how we brought this to our faculty."
In not just that meeting, but at each stage of the project, they reinforced a message that everyone at the school should consider themselves a civics educator, regardless of their subject area. This approach reflected a broader philosophy about embedding democratic principles throughout the school culture and remembering the possibilities that brings.
As the pilot stage of the project concludes, Glass has begun reflecting on its impact and the lessons learned. While the original goal was to develop a comprehensive K-8 civics curriculum, the most significant achievement has been a shift in school culture.
"I thought our goal was curriculum…. But it turned out our real goal was about culture. We impacted the culture of this place more than I had even imagined we could," Glass explained. "Our teachers feel supported and empowered to try and have conversations around civics and democracy, even if they're not simple."
In not just that meeting, but at each stage of the project, they reinforced a message that everyone at the school should consider themselves a civics educator, regardless of their subject area. This approach reflected a broader philosophy about embedding democratic principles throughout the school culture and remembering the possibilities that brings.
As the pilot stage of the project concludes, Glass has begun reflecting on its impact and the lessons learned. While the original goal was to develop a comprehensive K-8 civics curriculum, the most significant achievement has been a shift in school culture.
"I thought our goal was curriculum…. But it turned out our real goal was about culture. We impacted the culture of this place more than I had even imagined we could," Glass explained. "Our teachers feel supported and empowered to try and have conversations around civics and democracy, even if they're not simple."
Looking ahead, Glass remains hopeful about the broader role of education in strengthening democracy.
"Working in a K-8 school, I'm very much in the business of hope," Glass reflected. "Our young people already do see the world in very nuanced ways and in ways that are different than those of us who are products of the last century. We're at a time when we need some deeply creative ways of imagining something different than what exists. And so I'm very hopeful that if we're intentional about creating that context for our young people, that they're very capable of those acts of imagining."
For information about how your organization can work with A More Perfect Union,
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