Overview
Our Teen Programs are a joint venture with the teens of Beth Shir Shalom in Santa Monica. On Tuesday nights, we join together from 6:00-8:00 pm for dinner, community building, and Jewish programming. Our program emphasizes the relationship building and the creation of safe space for our teens to gather, unload, and spend time with familiar faces that care about them. See below for more details on the learning components.
7th Grade
The curriculum for the class is focused on being an upstander and taking care of the community around us, something that is very valuable to 7th graders. It is a very different experience than our younger classes and also gives them exposure to our teen/high school programs in a different way. They hear from a lot of guest speakers from wonderful organizations about how they can make the world a better place.
8th Grade
Eighth graders will spend time learning in depth about the Holocaust. They will learn about events leading up to the Holocaust, those who stood up for others, the beautiful art and poetry that came out of the Holocaust and why it is so important for us to learn about it today. They will then craft their own Yom Ha'Shoah service that will take place in the Spring.
Madrichim (8th-12th graders)
In our Madrichim program, students have the opportunity to volunteer as assistant teachers and serve as role models for the students in the Jewish Experience Center. Madrichim volunteer on Sunday mornings either on-site (24 sessions at our school location from 9-11:30am) or at our OJE program (9 sessions at camp from 9am-1pm and 3 sessions at our school location from 9:00-11:30am.) Madrichim assignments are subject to availability, and receive a stipend or community service hours for their time. Madrichim will learn how to develop leadership skills and learn how to make a difference in their community. As madrichim are role models for the younger students with whom they work, they are required to be enrolled in at least one other program.
KI Tzedakah Teens (KITT) (9th-12th)
KI Tzedakah Teens is a Jewish teen philanthropy program. Over the past 15 years, KITT has donated over $500,000 to national and international nonprofits. KI Tzedakah Teens meet monthly to: Form together as a board of a foundation and develop a mission statement; Develop a deeper understanding on how Jewish wisdom can help inform philanthropic decisions; Learn about important local and international issues facing our world; Research and understand how Jewish and non-Jewish organization are working to address these issues; Send Requests for Proposals to applicable nonprofits, review grant proposals, raise funds, and interview organizations; Make difficult but critical funding decisions; Build a community of Jewish teens who are passionate about changing the world. Click here for a video which explains KITT in more detail. (9th-12th grade). This program meets on Sunday mornings from 11:30am-2:00pm.
Teen Social Action Trip (9th-12th Grade)
This year our teens will be heading to the South on February 19 - 23, 2026. More information coming soon.
KI EDU: Powered by AJU Courses
We are thrilled to offer two college-credit courses through American Jewish University. These courses have a strict attendance requirement. Each class has 3 Sunday sessions (10am-2pm) and 10 Tuesday night sessions (6-8pm). Please note that payment (and financial assistance requests) will be handled directly through AJU).
This year's courses:
Contemporary Halacha (9th-12th Grades)
In this class, students will explore Jewish ethics - both the context and time in which they were lived and practiced as well as the way we understand these ancient laws in our lives today. Over the course of the year, students will spend time exploring kashrut, Shabbat, medical ethics, property laws and social responsibility, starting with the original text, exploring what our ancient commentators thought about these laws and then assessing what these laws look like in modern day. The ultimate goal is for students to develop an understanding of these fundamental pieces of our tradition and determine how they might apply the underlying values to challenging ethical decisions in their own lives.
Introduction to Biblical Texts (10th-12th Grades)
In this class, students will engage with some of the more complicated texts in our tradition - those which either show sides of our biblical ancestors in a less than positive way, or stories which include content that is seemingly contradictory to our current connection to our tradition. Students will begin by learning about our tradition of storytelling, documentary hypothesis and ensuring that all voices are represented and heard. The ultimate goal is for students to develop the ability to find meaning in all of the parts of our tradition (even and maybe even most importantly, the complicated ones) and for them to continue to sharpen their skills at reading and interpreting Jewish texts.