Tzedek

Committed. Purposeful. 

making the world a better place. 

A Davis Academy education stresses the importance of living our menschlichkeit values. For that reason, what some schools call “community service,” we call tzedek (“righteousness”). More than an amalgamation of isolated experiences, Tzedek is one of the pillars of our school community. When asked, “What does it mean to be a Reform Jewish Day School, the centrality of Tzedek is an important part of the answer. One of the hallmarks of Reform Judaism is its commitment to carrying on, with tremendous passion and optimism, the work of making the world a better and more just place.

A variety of projects, programs, and curricular modules in every grade expose students to what it looks like, feels like, and means to act with tzedek. For example, our tzedek program empowers kindergarteners to protect animals, 2nd graders to spearhead our school-wide effort to support the Atlanta Community Food Bank, 3rd graders to stock shelves at our local Community Assistance Center, 4th graders to make blankets for Scottish Rite Hospital, and 5th graders to help inner city children have a summer camp experience at Camp Jenny. The list goes on. At The Davis Academy, you’ll find themes pertaining to tzedek woven into classroom story time, Jewish holiday celebrations, visiting guests, field trips and more. No Jewish holiday celebration at The Davis Academy is complete if it doesn’t have a tzedek component.

In 5th grade all Davis Academy students expand their understanding of tzedek through interfaith service learning with other faith-based schools, field trips focused on the Civil Rights Movement, and direct interaction with philanthropic leaders and organizations while visiting Israel. In 7th grade students join together for Project IMPACT as they create a philanthropic organization that allocates money to local, national, and Israel based charities of their choosing. We are proud of the fact that Davis Academy students make meaningful contributions of time, talent, and resources to dozens of organizations each year. These organizations consider The Davis Academy to be a valued and reliable partner in their work.