A

t the start of the school
year, Frankel Jewish
Academy (FJA) began
a new tradition — FJA houses.
Houses in school settings may be
familiar to many from the Harry
Potter books and movies, but
school houses are quite common
in schools in England, says FJA
’s
new Judaic Studies Principal
Rabbi Abi Taylor-Abt, a British
native.
Students, faculty and staff
were split into three houses —
Galil (north), Mercaz (center)
and Negev (south) to represent
the different regions of Israel.
Students will keep their same
house affiliation throughout their
time at FJA. Currently, the school
has 123 students enrolled.
Taylor-Abt grew up in British
schooling and wanted to imple-
ment the house model she

experienced, believing it’s a way
to create bonds and community
within the school.
The house system was one of
the first ideas Rabbi Abi Taylor-
Abt brought up when she started.
“I was very aware of the fact
that our students have missed out
on the social-emotional learning
over the past two years,
” Taylor-
Abt said. “We did a great job
with their academics and keeping
them going and bringing them
into school, but where we had to
cut for health and safety were the
lunches, the after-school activ-
ities — everything that creates
these bonds and the community.
To me, it just seemed like perfect
timing to bring something in that
would encourage team-building
and forging friendships across
the different year groups.
”
Some community-building

Frankel Jewish Academy
introduces ‘FJA Houses’ to
promote community-building
and school spirit.

House
of Spirit

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

14 | NOVEMBER 18 • 2021

OUR COMMUNITY

Jack Beavers
’25 and Eli
Rosenzweig ’25