Shalom,

In my first weeks at AJA, I have been struck again and again by the warmth of this community. This campus is alive with adults working hard behind the scenes to make good things happen for children. In the middle of all that movement, what I have noticed most is the spirit of the people. Almost everywhere I turn, someone is smiling, helping, welcoming, explaining, or offering a story. These early conversations have helped me begin to understand not only what AJA does, but who AJA is.

This summer, I attended the NAIS Institute for New Heads, and the timing could not have been better. I arrived with a notebook full of questions and left with new colleagues, practical wisdom, and a deep sense that I am not doing this work alone. Much of what I heard there, and in NAIS’s recent writing on headship and parent engagement, affirmed what I already sense at AJA: strong schools are built through trust, clarity, shared mission, thoughtful communication, and meaningful partnership.

At AJA, that work is rooted in something even deeper. A Jewish day school education is about academic preparation, identity, tradition, community, purpose, and responsibility. It is about helping children understand where they come from and what they can offer the world.

Thank you to our faculty, staff, families, board members, and supporters for investing in a school where children matter, Jewish identity matters, learning matters, and community matters.

I am honored to join you, eager to learn from you, and excited to begin this next chapter together.

Kind regards,
Dr. Karyn Rayburn
Head of School