Heilicher nurtures identity and belonging in the safety of Jewish community, and we start early! Our incoming kindergarten class is already on its way to becoming a mishpachah (family) — they just had their first summer playdate ahead of the school year, a fun way for our youngest students to get to know one another and feel ready for the first day of kindergarten at Heilicher.

🇺🇸 Happy Independence Day! 🇺🇸
We practice both the values of Judaism and American democratic principles every day at Heilicher, such as valuing and respecting every individual.

Let’s show our appreciation and love as we say l’hitraot to a few members of our faculty:

✡️ Mazal tov to Dr. David Ackerman on his retirement — he served Heilicher for four years as our director of Jewish living and learning. He established our current Israel curriculum, brought b’not sherut to Heilicher, developed the middle school musar program, and provided support for our Heilicher faculty.

🪄Ali Berdass is a proud Heilicher alum and Heilicher parent, and she dedicated the last seven years to planning incredible benefits to raise money for our school as well as many other events. She supported the PTO, admissions, and many other aspects of Heilicher behind the scenes. We will miss her at all-school lunch!

📚 Dana Provus has helped students improve in literacy, math, and more as a fifth-grade teacher, upper school learning specialist, and, most recently, teaching and learning specialist for all grades. Over her nine years with Heilicher, Dana has helped countless students succeed.

As do all Heilicher faculty members, these three perfectly embody the Heilicher core values of Be a Mensch, Aspire to Excellence, Embrace Jewish Wisdom, and Create Community. Thank you, l'hitraot, and we wish you well in your next chapters.

🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride! 🏳️‍⚧️ At Heilicher, we recognize as one of our core values that “intellectual curiosity and respect for diverse thoughts and experiences build strong relationships and a sense of interconnectedness beyond our school.” We are proud to support our LGBTQ+ communities this Pride month and every day.

🌧🌧🌧 All this rain today reminds us of third grade's water cycle investigation back in the fall!

The weather unit is just one way our curriculum brings science to life through creativity and curiosity. 🌧🌧🌧

Happy Juneteenth!

Looking for a Jewish way to honor the holiday? Check out this Juneteenth hagaddah from United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism.

Heilicher is a vibrant community where intellectual curiosity and respect for diverse thoughts and experiences build strong relationships and a sense of interconnectedness in and beyond our school.

📘: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ffb24556296c62df877ad0f/t/62ae845768a5ac0fb97dca4c/1655604312739/USCJ+Juneteenth+Haggadah+2022+Revised.pdf

Please join us in giving a big mazal tov to our faculty and staff celebrating milestone anniversaries at Heilicher 🎉 Here at Heilicher we’re blessed with experienced and passionate educators and leaders dedicated to creating the best education, community, and experience for Heilicher families. This year we’re celebrating 11 people as they celebrate 5, 10, 25, and even 30 years with us! 🎨 A special acknowledgment to our incredible art department: Aimee Orkin, 30 years, and Victoria Thor, 25 years!

From building literacy skills to building community and from celebrating STEM wins to celebrating holidays, these yearbooks remind us of all the learning and fun we’ve had this year. We look forward to looking back in these books for the amazing memories and loving notes. HAGS! 🧡 📢 Shout out to eighth grader Sylvia G. for designing the yearbook cover in Ms. Thor’s graphic design class!

Heilicher graduation holds some of our greatest traditions — every graduate speaks from the heart, and every graduate hears from a special teacher. There's singing, tears, and laughter! 🎓 Mazal tov to the Heilicher eighth-grade class of 2025! May they be blessed as they go on their way to becoming Jewish leaders and lifelong learners. 🎓

Our classes are wrapping up for the year, and Ms. Schear's class celebrated the siyum (completion) of first grade! Students shared their work with their parents, incorporated Hebrew, and watched a slideshow of highlights from the year. Mazal tov to our rising second graders!

ICYMI 👀 Read TC Jewfolk's article, “HMJDS To Be Renamed As Part Of $40 Million Campaign.”

It was a joy to meet our 2025-2026 new families for Shabbat dinner last week. We paired incoming families with current families so our new Heilicher community members can get to know one another, learn from current families, and feel right at home. Welcome to the community!

We had a successful and exciting annual meeting! Thank you to the students, board members, and administrators who spoke. We honored staff milestones and departures, reflected on the successes of the year, and looked ahead with the announcement of the Hineini Campaign, which was launched with a historic gift that we will honor with a new name in the fall: Harold and Mickey Smith Jewish Academy! If you were not able to join us, you can watch the meeting: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iyh8WAdVQc-CO7i_KkxifSQJ5CGHD6wH/view?usp=drive_link

Our 40th Annual Meeting celebrated an extraordinary year in our history and ended with a big announcement … just like this post does! Before the big reveal, join us in saying kol hakavod (good job/all honor) to our school for our first eighth-grade Israel trip, recognition of our students’ achievements and academic success, and our improving financial picture due to steady enrollment increases and careful management. All more than enough to celebrate but there’s more … We are proud to announce a major campaign to secure our future! The Hineini Campaign will fully fund tuition assistance and programmatic excellence for Jewish education in the Twin Cities. We are launching this bold initiative with a truly extraordinary gift — the largest our school has ever received — given in memory of longtime supporters, Harold and Mickey Smith. To honor this gift, we will be known as the Harold and Mickey Smith Jewish Academy beginning this fall! We are deeply grateful to the Heilicher Foundation for generously making this naming possible and to our community members for their passionate support of Jewish education in the Twin Cities. Much more to come — read our full announcement and stay informed through our community updates! Full announcement: https://conta.cc/450tbva

Can you tell which sculpture the fifth graders are attempting to recreate? Swipe to find out! 🍒🥄 Heilicher fifth graders enjoyed a trip to the Walker Art Center and Minneapolis Sculpture Garden today.

“And seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you and pray to God on its behalf; for in its prosperity you shall prosper.” (Jer. 29.7) As Jewish Americans, we commemorate Memorial Day and honor the lives lost in service to the United States of America. #hmjdslions

Heilicher is all about creating lifelong learners, and our faculty lead by example. Mazal tov to haMorah Hadassa Slager on completing her master’s degree in Jewish education from the Jewish Theological Seminary!

Simon H., Liam R., Milo W., and Ezra Z. are the overall best team out of 92 teams in the worldwide Cosmic Leap Foundation Space Colony Competition! Heilicher fifth graders participated in the competition, learning about the challenges of living in space, researching and designing their own Mars space colonies, and building 3D models using recycled materials. In addition to the top prize, four of Heilicher’s teams received the highest possible rating of Cosmic, recognizing their innovative engineering, mental health focus, and architectural solutions designed for life beyond Earth. Kol hakavod!

See the middle school printmaking class in action with the printing press!

We have some math masters at Heilicher! Last month some of our Math Club students participated in the Math Masters mathematics competition, using critical thinking and problem-solving skills in mathematics.