Limud Clali

The Limud Clali program is a biweekly interactive seminar designed to introduce our students and faculty to new, exciting, and provocative ideas. The topics are chosen to provoke constructive debate within our community. The program offers three major components: guest speakers, ethics labs, and pluralism labs. Guest speakers represent a wide range of intellectuals, clergy, professionals, and activists, each embodying distinct social, religious, and political views. In the ethics labs students discuss and debate issues and consider their practical applications from both general and uniquely Jewish perspectives. Pluralism labs explore concerns—both Jewish and secular—that affect us as a community of individuals with diverse and conflicting belief systems.

Shabbatonim

Shabbatonim, an integral part of life at Gann Academy, provide students with a multifaceted perspective on Jewish life. Held in a variety of settings, these weekend retreats enable students to experience a wide spectrum of Jewish observance and learning in an informal environment. In addition, they allow students and faculty to explore their relationship as individuals to one another, their academic studies, and the natural world.

Exchange Programs

Gann Academy sponsors exchange programs with other Jewish high schools in the United States and abroad. The school has initiated exchanges with Jewish schools in London and Mexico City and has hosted students from Jewish high schools in Atlanta, Philadelphia, and San Diego. These exchanges enable students to experience firsthand the breadth of the Diaspora and the depth of the bonds that link all Jews. In addition, Gann Academy has developed an ongoing special relationship with the Ironi Hey school in Haifa; every week a number of our students hold a videoconference with their Haifa counterparts, and students from Ironi Hey visit Gann Academy in October.

Exploration Week

In March Gann Academy suspends routine academic studies for a week of experiential learning known as Exploration Week. Students may opt for a foreign destination linked to an aspect of their academic curriculum, such as Greece, Italy, or England; travel within the United States to encounter a distinctive culture or activity; or focus on an intensive local exploration of the arts, sciences, or social justice. All of the many options provide students with a uniquely enriching learning opportunity.

Tikkun Olam and Community Service

Tikkun olam, the responsibility to repair the world, is a tenet that unites Jews across the religious spectrum. Our ongoing social justice programs engage all students in community service on a regular basis throughout the year. We work with a variety of communal organizations to match students’ interests with the community’s needs. Our students have visited the elderly, the poor, and the mentally disabled; worked in food kitchens; helped to harvest food at a community farm; and worked to develop a recycling program for the school.

Junior Year in Israel

Beginning with the class of 2007, Gann Academy students will have the option of studying in Israel in the fall of their junior year. This program will offer the best possible opportunity for a rewarding and intensive academic and cultural experience in Israel while enabling the entire student body to benefit from the positive experiences our students will bring with them upon their return.

Extracurricular Life

Athletics

Our athletics program emphasizes the value of good health and physical fitness. It also gives students the basic skills to enjoy a variety of team and individual sports. Sports currently offered include baseball, basketball (2001–2002 and 2002–2003 Girls Independent League champions), cross-country, soccer (boys 2000 and 2002 Mass Bay Independent League champions), softball, tennis, and ultimate frisbee. See the athletics program page for complete details about our competitive and noncompetitive athletic options.

Athletic teams are developed according to student interest. In interscholastic competition, Gann Academy competes in a league with other independent and public schools in the Greater Boston area. Coaches stress the value of teamwork, sportsmanship, and personal responsibility. Gann Academy teams compete in the Girls Independent and the Mass Bay Independent Leagues.

Student Clubs

Students are encouraged both to cultivate their current interests and pursue new ones. The director of student life facilitates a variety of student activities and organizations designed to enrich our curriculum beyond the classroom.