February 17, 2026
Hello Mirowitz Community,
I hope and wish that you can see what I see: Mirowitz gaining altitude, creating real momentum for our students past, present, and. future. There are weeks when you feel the school moving. Not loudly. Not dramatically. But steadily.
This is one of those weeks.
Walking the hallways, sitting in classrooms, talking with teachers and kids — I keep noticing small things that add up to something bigger. A third grader explaining her thinking at the whiteboard with real confidence. A middle schooler pushing back on an idea in discussion, thoughtfully, because he actually has a position. Two fourth graders reading Torah for the first time with confidence, skilled cantellation (thank you Rabbi Jim Goodman!), and the satisfaction of knowing that they were “on it,” after having done a great job with Morah Val. The quiet vibrancy of a school that is working and working well.
The data confirms what I’m seeing. Our Winter NWEA MAP results just came in, and they tell a powerful story. In Math, our all-school median is at the 77th percentile nationally. Reading, the 80th. Language Usage, the 83rd. Grades 3 through 7 are especially strong — in several grades, more than half our students are scoring above the 80th percentile nationally. Our 8th graders have been accepted everywhere they applied. They are marks in time, but test scores are important to some people. Our kids are more than just high achievers.
They are more than incremental progress, too. More than their upper-quartile performance, consistently, across core subjects. These are facts. Not just aspiration but data on the way to…
Increasing complexity of thinking and doing. Academic rigor and engagement go hand-in-hand.
We are also doing the harder internal work — strengthening learning support, sharpening how we teach, and staying in close conversation with families. Retention isn’t assumed here. It’s earned, one relationship at a time. And on the admissions side, the signs are genuinely encouraging. Kindergarten applications are meaningfully up from this point last year. New families are touring. Conversations are happening.
There is momentum here. Real momentum.
But underneath the numbers is something that matters more than any data point. What I see when I walk this building is children growing into themselves — kids who are learning to question, to hold complexity, to feel genuinely at home in themselves and will be future Jewish leaders in St. Louis. Academic strength matters. So does belonging. So does the experience of growing up inside a community that knows your name and takes you seriously.
That formation is happening here. Every day.
Next Wednesday, February 18, we gather for Carol Rubin Day — rooted in the understanding that a niggun can be a ladder to the heavens.
Carol believes a melody could lift a soul. That small, steady notes sung together will carry a community somewhere it couldn’t reach alone.
That is what this moment feels like to me. Not a crescendo. Not a crisis. A steady climb.
I look forward to being together next week — honoring Carol’s lasting contributions, and continuing the work.
With gratitude,
Moreh Brian Thomas