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